Respected Philadelphia Woman Broker Retires

Toni Jo D’Alessandro, a broker buying on the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM), has retired after over 50 years in the business. D’Alessandro began her career in produce through her father, Sam Riccelli, when she worked part time during college at his business, Sam Riccelli Produce Brokers. “I’d help him out in different areas,” she says. “At the time, there was the old depot in Philly where the rail cars came in. My dad would leave the market and go to the depot to look at the produce arriving. Before I left for school, I’d meet him for breakfast and go to the depot with him. Later, I started helping in the office and eventually going to the market with him, too.”

D’Alessandro eventually left school to work full time with her father at the market. “I would work one side of the street, and he’d work the other,” she says. “I’d get the prices on my side, then touch base with him in the office, and we’d start selling. It’s funny because at first, my dad gave me the worst job — to stay by the trucks when they were loading. He thought it would dissuade me from becoming a full-time broker, but that didn’t work, and I actually learned a lot through it.”

When Sam Riccelli passed in 1987, D’Alessandro took over the business. “My mom, Rita Riccelli joined me to help in the office,” she says. “My sister, Michele Verrecchia, would work some summers and fill in if I had a heavy day. They were both a big support for me when I needed it.”

Sam Riccelli Produce Brokers was the only woman-owned and operated buying business on the Philadelphia Market. “Cindy Schannauer, who now works at TMK, and I started at the same time, and we were the only two women on the market in our positions, so we bonded,” says D’Alessandro.

At that time, it was challenging for a woman to walk the market and buy. “Some people at the beginning didn’t want to sell me,” says D’Alessandro. “Others did because they wanted to make money. I took the reins and decided I wasn’t going to be pushed out. I became mentally strong, moved forward, and eventually gained more respect — and they gained mine. Then friendships and business relationships developed. I realized I just had to run my game, and my game was to buy what my customers needed, give them good product, get it at a good price, and deliver it well.”

John Vena, president of John Vena Inc. in Philadelphia, PA, first met D’Alessandro through her father. “Sam Riccelli did a lot of business with my dad, and she and I started in the industry around the same time,” he says. “I had just come from a job working side-by-side with capable women, so I was quite comfortable doing business with Toni Jo.  She understood our segment of the industry and how to best serve her customers. She knew the market, and she knew the quality and condition of the product she loaded every day.  Toni Jo expected to be treated fairly. I think that was her ‘superpower’ and our team worked hard not to disappoint her.”

Hard-won relationships have been important for D’Alessandro over her career, evidenced by how she is esteemed in return. “Toni Jo is the quintessential produce professional, yet she brought her own style and class to the produce market, unlike any other,” says Tom Kovacevich, president of TMK Produce in Philadelphia, PA. “You might say she was our desert rose, gleaming brightly among all the dull blues and grays walking the market. Hardworking and incredibly ethical, Toni Jo will be missed by all.”

D’Alessandro’s last day buying at PWPM was Aug. 29, 2025. “I am very grateful to my customers and I thank them for staying with me all these years,” she says. “I’m also thankful for all the people at the market who I grew to respect and I really cherish those relationships. I will carry them with me. They helped mold me into part of the person I am today.”