Five Ways New York-Area Companies Cater to Customers

In the competitive NYC marketplace, produce wholesalers, distributors and importers focus on customers.

Cesar Ritz, founder of The Ritz Hotel, once said, “Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon.” New York area produce companies may not be providing the moon, but they are taking extra steps to ensure customers feel supported and valued.

“Our job is to become the partner that our customers can’t do without,” explains Victor Savanello, vice president merchandising and business development at Katzman Distribution in Burlington, NJ. “We create this relationship by delivering everything they need to accomplish their goals and succeed.”

Customers increasingly seek personalization. “The new generation of clients wants a special boutique style of service,” says Anthony Serafino, president of Exp Group in North Bergen, NJ. “Customers want accessibility, efficiency, variety and peace of mind. We understand the new age of consumers.”

The amount of competition in the marketplace requires companies to differentiate themselves, adds Bruce Klein, marketing manager for Maurice A. Auerbach in Secaucus, NJ. “We do that for our customers by not only offering excellent pricing but also superior quality and unmatched customer service.”

One way of serving customers is knowing the end consumer, says Ami Ben-Dror, founder and chief executive of BDA/Dorot Farm in Melville, NY. “We make sure they have the right product to meet their consumer needs. We sell more, and our customers sell more. We focus on quality, freshness and sweetness in our products.”

Customer satisfaction is rooted in communication. “Communication is key because, in the end, you must have great communication for consistency,” says Ben-Dror.

New York-area wholesalers, importers and distributors highlight five crucial areas for building successful customer relationships.

1. EFFICIENT LOGISTICS

Effectively managing the supply chain provides the foundation for serving customers well. “The path to success is to understand how to move product more efficiently and provide a consistent supply,” says Ben-Dror. “To do that, we need to control all the steps from farm to customer.

“It’s really important to understand all the elements, especially today,” he adds. “There is a lot you need to pay attention to and handle the right way to ensure product maintains quality and consistency.”

Delivery is a crucial part of the wholesale distribution equation, yet it must be adaptable. Maurice A. Auerbach has planned days for delivery to all its customers, but offers flexibility. “If a customer needs a special delivery on not their normal day, we make arrangements for that to work,” says Klein.

Investment in the logistics arena sets up reliability today and success tomorrow. Exp Group purchased over $2.5 million of new equipment this past spring to increase its capability. “With inflation and the cost of oil, the cost of goods has been more expensive than ever. As a result, logistics are more expensive,” says Serafino. “We continue to focus on logistics because it differentiates us from other suppliers. Our clients want things done as logistically efficiently as possible.”

Direct importing is another increasingly valuable aspect of controlling logistics. “Exp started as an importer,” says Serafino. “We love directly importing because we can provide the most direct and centralized line of merchandise for our clientele. Importing has been a key strategy because it allows us not only to control the source but the whole supply chain.”

Maurice A. Auerbach is a direct importer of many of the items it markets. “Controlling the product from when it comes off the flight or when the container reaches our dock helps us give our customers the freshest and best product available,” Klein says.

2. MERCHANDISING SUPPORT

With current labor constraints, retailers and other customers look to wholesalers and distributors for help in the store and with information. Merchandising services are one of the key pillars of Katzman’s service to customers. “We provide guidance, training and support to our customers because merchandising effectively is vital to their success,” says Savanello. “We want to provide everything they need to be the best solution in their neighborhood for their consumer base.”

“We want to provide everything they need to be the best solution in their neighborhood for their consumer base.”

— Victor Savanello, Katzman Distribution, Burlington, NJ

Merchandising services are a new and growing piece for Exp Group. “A lot of our retail clients value our help with store resets, understanding the consumer, or in helping choose and understand variety,” says Serafino. “We’re also offering ways to communicate and how they can penetrate the new age of consumer. Retailers are very conscious of the differences between the generations and who they’re serving. How they set the produce department, given the consumer age, is essential and we can help.”

Ben-Dror says Dorot Farm seeks creative ways to help customers increase sales in-store. “For example, during holidays we bring carrots in a bin to create excitement and POS focus,” he says. “The store increases sales because they’re selling in a bin. It’s a partnership between the buyers and us to increase sales.”

3. PROVIDING ALTERNATIVES

As customers look to satisfy a variety of consumer tastes, wholesalers and distributors assist by providing advice, as well as a selection of items. “Our job is to have the best product available for our customers,” says Savanello. “We inform our customers of our recommendations, the opportunities, and availability of assortment, guiding them to the best solution for their business and their consumers. We work together with our customers, listening to what they want, and do our best to get them exactly that.”

Advising on product is all about relationships. “You want great communication with the teams of buyers to ensure consistent supply,” says Ben-Dror. “For example, if they have a product shortage, we work with them to help them find it from a different area.”

The team at Maurice A. Auerbach works to help customers understand constraints in the marketplace. “We sometimes have to substitute an item because of a late truck or a container not getting off the port on time,” says Klein. “However, we always discuss and clear it with the customer in advance.”

New York-area wholesalers continue to diversify into cultural tastes, trend-influenced items and value-added products. “We’re selling tofu here,” says Serafino. “I never thought we’d sell tofu.”

Yet, Serafino also explains the need for handling more traditional items, too. “The need for an A-to-Z supplier is greater than ever,” he says. “We started our business with a niche in tropicals, but now we’re selling stone fruit, apples and vegetables. We sell 15 different hot peppers, but we can also sell a beautiful kiwi from New Zealand.”

Katzman is focused on all categories related to fresh and beyond, says Savanello. “That is what our customers want and expect.”

4. PARTNERING TOGETHER

Partnerships and strategic alliances serve to bolster the business in sourcing all the way through to marketing. “It’s very important to have a proper sourcing pipeline,” says Exp’s Serafino. “It’s more capital intensive than ever and it’s very difficult for smaller companies to have it. We’re spending a lot of money to ensure we have the correct pipeline for our clientele. I travel a lot to ensure we’re talking to our sources to understand what’s going on at the farm level. Adequate communication both up and down the chain is extremely important.”

Savanello notes Katzman is always seeking strong partners and adding to its industry-leading partnership network. “Our recent addition of the Prima brand California stone fruit to our network of partners is an example what our customers and the consumer identifies as a preferred brand,” he says. “We’re proud that we get to offer Prima exclusively in our region.”

Katzman also partners with a leading fresh-cut company to deliver timely, high-quality fresh-cuts for retailers who struggle doing it themselves. “We come in and help our customers set up fresh cuts on the stand, in their systems, and we get them into the fresh cut business, which is so important in today’s produce department,” he says.

Our partnership with Melissa’s is another value we bring to our customers. We make it seamless to get these items on a regular basis, and can order today for tomorrow.”

Dorot Farm is always open to new partnerships, according to Ben-Dror. “People look to our brand and operation and want to see how they can plug into it,” he says. “It’s a lot of work to ensure the right product gets to the customer and you need the right partners for that as well.”

Wholesalers utilize new alliances to fill gaps in their offering for customers. “We at Maurice A. Auerbach are always looking to source new vendors to complement existing partnerships,” says Klein. “Our executive team travels to overseas shows and conventions to build new alliances.”

5. EMPLOYING INNOVATION

Forward progress driven by technology is a decisive advantage for successful wholesaling and distributing. “We pride ourselves on being an innovative workplace, especially in harnessing technology,” Exp’s Serafino says. “If we know how the customer likes things, we can cater to them better and use our technology to serve them better. For example, we can employ AI in automating certain aspects of our business to better service our clients. Just when you think you have the next level, there is always a new level. Innovation is always changing, pushing forward, and we have to move even more quickly than others.”

“Innovation is always changing, pushing forward, and we have to move even more quickly than others.”

— Anthony Serafino, Exp Group, North Bergen, NJ

Innovation and technology are critical to success, agrees Savanello. “All our sales and movement data is made available to us through Microsoft Power BI, which allows us to use all of our captured data to work for us and our customers,” he says. “We employ state-of-the-art live telematics through the Samsara system to provide real-time visibility into the Katzman delivery fleet.”

Katzman also has capabilities to practice enhanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM) through a leading customer relationship management technology in the industry, Salesforce. “Our custom ordering application on Salesforce provides a user-friendly platform to place orders accurately and efficiently,” says Savanello. “And, although invisible to our customers, our modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Warehouse Management SAGE X3 system ensures efficient inventory flow that drives the optimum quality and reduces shrink.”

Dorot Farm uses technology in various aspects of its operation, particularly in post-harvest, says Ben-Dror. “This allows us to perform better sorting for more optimal consistency. It also yields a higher food safety result because there are no human hands involved in the process. It’s a lot of investment in innovation, but it is better for the product.”