Northeast business updates

Fave aims to boost U.S. business

Middletown, N.J.-based Fave Produce has been a major supplier to Canada for 10 years, including Loblaw Cos. supermarkets, said Laurie Siderio, sales manager.

But now, the company is working to expand its U.S. business.

Besides offices in New Jersey, the company has warehouses in Vancouver, British Columbia, and California. Ginger and garlic are its main commodities, but the company also offers a variety of Asian vegetables, such as eggplant, bok choy and others, Siderio said.

Freshwave opens new facility

Vineland, N.J.-based The Freshwave Fruit & Produce has opened a new cold storage, packing and distribution facility and plans to add even more cold

storage space in the future, said Chelsea Consalo, executive vice president.

The addition can handle 1,000 pallets a day. “It was definitely needed because we’re continuing to grow,” she said. The family business, which started in 1927 as Consalo Family Farms, also brought back Nick Giordano as senior vice president of sales. Giordano worked at The Freshwave from 2006 to 2011 and most recently was with Frank Donio Inc., Hammonton, N.J. The Freshwave sales operation opened in 2003. The company is a produce grower, packer, shipper, importer and distributor. “We pretty much do it all,” Consalo said. It also has facilities in Hammington and Egg Harbor Township, N.J. In late December, the company will honor warehouse manager Sidney Johnson, a 35-year veteran of the firm. “We’re proud to have him,” Consalo said. “He’s a real asset to the business.”

Business steady at L G S

Business has been “pretty steady as she goes” this fall and winter at L G S Specialty Sales Ltd., New Rochelle, N.Y., said President Luke Sears.

The transition from Southern Hemisphere to Northern Hemisphere citruses went well, he said. “Chile went a little longer than normal, which was good,” Sears said.

That meant the Morocco deal started a little later than normal, so the program kicked off with better fruit. The company was importing easy-peel clementines from Morocco in December, which were a good Christmas item, he said.

Avocados and grapes are other winter items L G S handles.

Vitrano Co. moving forward

It’s been “a challenging year and a half,” but Tony Vitrano Co., on the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market in Jessup, Md., continues to move forward, said President Tony Vitrano. The firm, which “sells just about everything,” saw vegetable sales jump this fall as consumers began to do more home cooking. Sales likely will slow a bit after the first of the year until regional and local produce becomes available once again in the spring, he said.

Ryeco remains in expansion mode

Ryeco LLC on the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is continuing to expand its business, said Filindo Colace, vice president of operations.

The company has about 20 trucks that can make deliveries and pick up product from the pier, and Ryeco

is using state-of-the-art warehouse management software for traceability.“Food safety is big for us,” Colace said. Ryeco is also working to improve its import program. “We have a lot more permits now, and we’re importing a lot of our own products,” he said. The company also has its own off-site warehouse to store product and is building its own repacking program. “We’re looking to expand that in 2022,” Colace said.

Ryeco is planning a 30,000-square-foot addition that will accommodate 2,000 more pallets. With all of its storage space and expansion of its truck fleet, “we’ll be able to help some of those larger importers pick up their product, store their product and deliver their product,” he said. “We look forward to that in the first quarter of next year.” Ryeco is a full-service company that stocks about 600 items, including potatoes, onions, pineapples, eastern and western vegetables, squash, peppers, cucumbers, celery, lettuce, spinach, romaine and broccoli crowns, Colace said.

Sunny Valley having good season

Sunny Valley International Inc., Glassboro, N.J., has had “an excellent fall and early winter season,” Tom Beaver, director of sales and marketing, said in mid-December. “We significantly expanded our Peruvian blueberry program and saw brisk sales for our local fresh cranberry program with Whalen Farms in New Jersey,” he said. “Now, we’re starting to look ahead to the Chilean blueberry (season), which should start at the outset of the new year and ramp up as we get into January.” Sunny Valley International will have excellent supplies of high-quality Chilean blueberries from early January through March, he said. The company is dealing with the same logistical challenges as other importers, he said, “but we’ve built anticipated shipping delays into our planning process, which has allowed us to continue supporting our customers relatively seamlessly so far.” The firm is seeing increasing demand for blueberries packed using top-seal technology, which reduces the use of plastics and allows the company to ship in punnets that are fully recyclable, Beaver said. 

New York food hub ‘topped off’

The final beam of a 60,000-square-foot, $40 million cold-storage facility was put in place Dec. 10 during a topping-off ceremony for the New York State Regional Food Hub in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx, according to a news release.

The food hub is a joint state and city project that will strengthen the local food economy, support New York farmers and improve access to healthful and affordable foods for low-income communities, the release said.