Specialty products enjoying high movement in Philadelphia, Northeast

Specialty produce is seeing strong demand in the Philadelphia and northeastern markets.

Chefs and retailers are always on the lookout for new and exotic fruits and vegetables they can incorporate in their menus or sell on retail shelves, wholesalers report.

"I like to say the category is doing nothing but increasing," said Mark Levin, co-owner of Philadelphia-based M. Levin & Co Inc. "We have more items now than we can ever mention or explain."

At one time, the only ethnic trade the distributor sold to was to Hispanics.

Today, Levin also services customers that distribute to the Korean, Chinese, Indian and Mexican markets, Levin said.

"Organics, tropicals and specialty items, those are our growth items," said Mike Maxwell, president of Philadelphia's Procacci Bros Sales Corp. "They are growing by double-digits every year. They have been a powerhouse."

Procacci employs a buyer dedicated to procuring specialties and tropicals from throughout the world, including Thailand and Vietnam.

In 2015, it opened a buying office in Miami to handle Southern Hemisphere tropicals.

As specialty items become more popular, prices decline.

Dragon fruit isn't as expensive as before and cherimoya is also seeing lower prices, Maxwell said.

"Consumers are looking for things that are different," he said. "The world is becoming a smaller place. More people are going to restaurants and seeing things they want to make at home now and preparation has become so easy now as people can find instructions online. As long as you keep them (specialties) out there, keep them fresh and put a value price on them, people will want to explore and try new things."

Specialty sales are growing in retail and foodservice channels, said Emily Kohlhas, sales and marketing coordinator for Philadelphia's John Vena Inc.

"What's really been getting us excited lately is the future of specialty in retail," she said. "The consumer is asking for, even demanding, access to a wider variety of exotic and ethnic fruits, vegetables and ingredients than ever before.

There's huge opportunity here and retail is in dire need of these kinds of opportunities as the space becomes increasingly competitive."

To keep its retail customers competitive, Vena has begun development of a new line of retail-ready specialty items to bring ethnic flavors into produce department in a way that's accessible and convenient, Kohlhas said.

Specialties help buyers distinguish themselves from their competitors and attract return customers, said Daniel Vena, director of sales and buying.

Ron Carkoski, president and CEO of Ephrata, Pa.-based Four Seasons Produce Inc., credits companies including Frieda's Inc., Los Alamitos, Calif., and Los Angeles-based Melissa's/World Variety Produce Inc., for improving merchandising and marketing of the category.

"There's definitely a growth in that area and it's a significant growth," he said. "It's amazing how readily some of the new items continue to be brought on and accepted."

Two decades ago, Four Seasons would experience trouble selling a pallet of kale.

Today, like pomegranates and kiwi, the items are carried like any other stock-keeping unit and aren't special-order products anymore, Carkoski said.

"The biggest thing we can say about specialties is the specialties we use to pre-order and book by the case, a lot of those are no longer considered specialties," he said. "Instead, we carry them as stock and run them through the distribution center as normal. It's all due to demand."

Martin Roth, secretary-treasurer of Coosemans Philadelphia Inc., has also noticed the "mainstreaming" of specialties.

The company on the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market offers 150-200 stock-keeping units of specialties and many of them aren't so limited in sales anymore.

"Overall, specialties aren't specialties anymore," he said. "All these items people consider as specialties are now mainstream."

Roth points to shishito peppers which five years ago were an unpopular commodity.

Today, one can find them in many restaurants.

"Specialties are not the same as they were 15-20 years ago," Roth said. "Everything seems to be a mainline commodity. I have never seen ginger and garlic sell so well. Everyone uses them."

Roth characterizes specialty sales as consistent.

No particular item has experienced any large jump in sales, he said.