Cynthia DavidTony Di Marco (left), founder of Toronto’s Harvest Wagon grocery store, examines raspberries with salesman Joe Lusito of Gambles Ontario Produce. TORONTO — At the Ontario Food Terminal, Tony Di Marco is a rock star.
Everywhere he turns there are handshakes, slaps on the back and cries of “Hey, Uncle Tony!”
Salesmen rush to offer him a taste of their finest produce, and busy owners stop work to sit and chat over an espresso above the chaos of the sales floor.
With 35 years of pre-dawn visits under his belt, Di Marco has earned the recognition.
From day one, he set out to buy the finest fruits and vegetables for the newly renovated Harvest Wagon, the legendary grocery store he founded in the ritzy Rosedale area of downtown Toronto.
He buys the old-fashioned way, with a knife in his pocket, and takes his time, often walking the entire horseshoe-shaped terminal three or four times to find the perfect produce. He and company president Sal Strazzeri, his son-in-law, buy first, then ask the price.
Di Marco’s first stop today is Dominion Citrus, where senior buyer Peter DiGioia enthuses about the shelf life of the Tanimura & Antle Artisan lettuce and shows off his personal favorite, heads of baby romaine.
At the brightly lit Canadian Fruit & Produce Co. Ltd. showroom, Di Marco recalls when each house specialized in a single product. While Canadian still focuses on melons, buyer Sam Kanellopoulos pries open a wooden crate of cranberry beans to show their freshness.
Until 10 years ago, the showroom at Stronach & Sons Inc. was empty when the local deal ended. It’s now filled with imports, many of them Dole products, but by July the showroom will be piled high once more with local produce.
“It gets crazy!” said buyer Danny Simone.
“We can talk to the farmer in the morning and tell them what we want and they deliver that day.”
Further down the path that separates pedestrians from zooming forklift trucks, it’s Italian Day at the Italian Produce Co., where Harvest Wagon buys 75% of its berries. In the second-floor office, customers help themselves to homemade soppressata and capicollo, and the espresso machine never stops.
“We’re sprucing up for Valentine’s Day and hoping the market’s stronger,” said co-owner Vince Bruno, who’s bringing in more organic produce for conventional retailers.
“The problem for us is supply,” Di Marco said.
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