Unlike some terminal markets, the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM), is open to the public. Anyone and everyone can park, visit, and explore the premises.
“We try to stay engaged with the Philadelphia region and welcome community involvement,” says Dan Kane, general manager of the PWPM. “For instance, we offer our conference room facilities to various chambers of commerce, host numerous trade missions, and we even lend out our parking lot for a local community volleyball tournament.”
Among the others benefiting from access to the market are local culinary institutes from nearby Broad Street, which bring classes of “newbies” to the market every three months to get acclimated to the wholesale market atmosphere. Most soon realize how lucky they are to have the PWPM in their backyard.
Colleges and universities are ubiquitous in the Philadelphia region, and the PWPM gets frequent requests for visits in a variety of fields of study including food marketing, supply chain management, engineering, and agricultural sciences.
Dr. Jacqueline Ricotta, a professor of horticulture at Delaware Valley University, says, “In teaching fruit and vegetable production, I believe it is very important to bring my students to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market because they’re able to learn about the enormity of the complex produce supply chain from seed to plate. I feel fortunate that this amazing place is available for my students to see and experience; it is a field trip they will always remember.”
In the past year, around 50 tour groups have come through the Philadelphia market. Merchants are happy to share their years of wisdom with visitors, from members of trade missions to a hopeful juice bar entrepreneur.
“We have visitors from as far away as China, South America, and this past September, Sub Saharan Africa,” Kane says. “People near and far are impressed not only by the modern facility, but by the close-knit, harmonious group of merchants.”
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full article.
