Beantown’s two terminal markets, the Boston Market Terminal (BMT) and the New England Produce Center (NEPC), are prime junctions for the freshest produce and newest trends the industry has to offer. From ethnic specialties to traditional mainstays, read on to discover what’s trending and transforming at the City on the Hill’s two markets.
Trending in ‘The Hub’
Whether it’s new packaging, chopped or diced favorites, or stalwarts like lettuce and celery, Boston merchants have it all and continue to provide East Coast retailers, restaurants, and institutional customers with everything they need.
Adding Value
Value-added products and packaging continue to garner popularity both on the consumer level and for wholesale customers. In the wholesale world, ‘value-added’ falls under any packaging with greater benefit, from case structure to quantity per case to traceability, according to Scott Wilson, president of Wilson Farm, Inc. in Lexington, MA.
“Value-added and prepared products continue to be very strong for us,” Wilson says. However, added convenience inherently creates more packaging. To lessen the impact, they’ve turned to environmentally-conscious alternatives, making it a priority for packaging to be recyclable with reusable options for the consumer like resealable bags or clamshells that can be repurposed.
Anthony Sharrino, president of Eaton & Eustis Company, which sells onions, garlic, dried fruit, and nuts at the NEPC, has seen a higher demand for fresh and peeled garlic, as well as dried fruit. “It’s year-round now; many years ago, after Christmas, you couldn’t give it away,” he says of the longtime company’s dried fruit line. “People have changed their eating habits.”
Garden Fresh Salad Company, Inc. has seen an increased desire for cabbage mixes and salads that integrate popular superfoods. Patrick Burke, sales manager, says many customers are hunting down blends with high-powered greens. “We’ve seen more orders for plain chopped kale and broccoli slaw,” he says. “People are really asking for those.”
John Cerasuolo Company, Inc. sources a large stream of vegetables from Mexican, Californian, and Canadian greenhouses, with green and red peppers as the top sellers, according to president Dominic Cavallaro. Although the flow of product from greenhouses fluctuates throughout the year, summer is the busiest time, making up nearly half of the wholesaler’s fresh produce.
Ethnic & Organic Items
Ethnic populations also continue to be big drivers of market demand. Steven Piazza, president of Community-Suffolk, Inc., who sells on the BMT, shares that Boston’s sizeable Spanish, Russian, and Asian populations shop the market three to four times per week to supply “small inner city stores because they don’t warehouse product.”
