More People, More Food
The city’s remarkable growth, combined with more emphasis on health and wellness, continues to propel sales of fresh fruit and vegetables.
“There are a lot of people moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” notes Anderson (Larry) Ma, general manager of Pacific Plus International, Inc., a distributor based in Farmers Branch, a small northern enclave of Dallas. “This area is booming, and new houses are going in all over the place. We’re growing every year, and this is a good thing for our business.”
Of course, the old real estate mantra about location helps too. “We’re centrally located to get (produce) out to a lot of different areas,” points out Acton.
Despite the area’s growth, there have been a few casualties. “The market over the last few years has narrowed down and lost some smaller wholesalers,” contends Steve Ford, managing member at Dallas Direct Distributing, LLC. Nevertheless, he says, “You’ve got a pretty strong market and foodservice industry, and wholesalers are strong. So, it’s a good place to be right now.”
Stachurski agrees. “It’s a very strategic place for businesses to distribute from because we can hit a lot of geographical locations,” he says, and he also appreciates DFW’s thriving economy and diversity.
Retail Roundup
On the other side of the selling coin is the retail scene. Like many fast-growing cities, Dallas and Ft. Worth’s retail environment is highly competitive and constantly evolving. Kroger, Albertsons, Tom Thumb, Market Street, and Wal-mart all maintain a strong retail presence in the metro.
Regardless, new competitors continue to enter the market, giving these grocers, both large and small, a run for their money.
“Some of the older chains are closing up stores, and there are several new ones like WinCo coming into the area,” points out Elaine Anders, president of Paradise Produce, a receiver in Dallas.
Idaho-based WinCo Foods LLC opened its first two discount supermarkets in DFW in 2014. Two years later the company prepared for major expansion by opening an 800,000-square foot distribution center in Denton, a city in the northern portion of the metroplex—the single largest economic development in the history of Denton. Today, WinCo has nine locations across the area.
“Trader Joe’s has a very strong foot-hold in Dallas,” points out Coosemans Dallas’ Acton. “Kroger is still maintaining its share. It’s a pretty complex group of retailers, and to top that off Amazon also seems to have a strong presence with home delivery. The retail equation is totally different than it was five years ago, and it will be different in another five.”
