Ethnic, specialty produce, and availability
Chicago has always been a melting pot, but even more so in the last twenty years with the influx of Latino, Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and East Indian immigrants joining the traditional mix of Italian, Polish, Irish, and other ethnic populations. Consumers and chefs want foods from their homelands, so the CIPM’s offerings have changed to meet the demands of diversity.
Hispanic foods, once fairly exotic in the Midwest, are now staples. Suarez, who does a robust business in Mexican imports says his customers won’t settle for anything but the best in each category. This means sourcing Mexican-grown jalapeños, tomatoes, and bell peppers; onions and potatoes from Idaho; and as much local, seasonal produce as possible.
FRESH FORUM
Do you think the Trump presidency is affecting your business or the industry as a whole?Mark Pappas – Coosemans Chicago, Inc.
The country is divided and I don’t want to divide our customers. … [We have] a friendly business environment and people will always need to eat; U.S. business and growth are stronger than any administration.Vince Gregosanc – Battaglia Distributing Company, Inc.
I don’t see it affecting us directly; even in the bad economy, we did okay. We saw more focus on price—people are a little more frugal.Brian Holzkopf Ruby Robinson Company Inc.
America is not just one person; we change with every president. America has always been great.Tom Cornille – George J. Cornille & Sons
Officials have the responsibility for the safety and well being of constituents. The last administration really pushed produce; traceability…made growers more accountable. We’re a better, safer, healthier world for it.Daniel Suarez – Blue Island Wholesale Produce, Inc.
We’ve been doing this for thirty-eight years. We all still have to eat. The president has scared some of our customers–some are concerned about the [border] wall.
He goes on to explain that high demand for avocados in Europe and Japan has impacted import pricing and domestic volume. “For some time last year, avocados were $100 per box,” Suarez recalls. “Instead of fifty loads a year, we brought in forty,” he says, and conditioned the fruit on the premises in ripening rooms.
One unwelcome trend is growers going direct and eliminating wholesalers. “One big grower we worked with for twenty years started going directly to our customers,” comments Pomerantz. “They lose sight that distributors take the burden off growers by putting orders together. Smaller customers don’t try to circumvent distributors as much; they realize they can get a better deal in most instances and especially when they run short.
