Business at Toronto’s Ontario Food Terminal got off to a rather slow start this year, say some of the produce distributors there, but there’s plenty of time for sales to pick up.
“To me, it looks like it’s slower than last year,” said Troy Bacchus, operations manager for Ippolito Produce.
“We’re still hurting from inflationary pressures and weather, which affect product quality and availability,” he said.
Yields are down in Mexico, where freezing temperatures drove up prices. And consumers north of the border seem to be limiting their grocery shopping to staple items, he said.
“They’re not buying anything extra,” Bacchus said. “It seems that people are spending more on vacations than groceries at this moment.”
At J.E. Russell Produce on the terminal market, sales so far this year are in line with the past few years, said Hutch Morton, senior vice president.
“While we strive for year-over-year growth, the tough economic conditions that many Canadian families are facing right now have us pleased to be where we are,” he said. “We know that a lot of consumers are trading down in terms of brands and even categories at retail, so we have to be realistic about the marketplace that we’re selling into.”
Nonetheless, he said, “It’s a long year, and we believe that our best days are still ahead.”
At North American Produce Buyers Ltd., Stephan Schmekel, executive vice president for sales and marketing, N.A., said he’s noticed that produce buyers are being more cautious with the volume of product they’re purchasing.
“They are buying more on a day-to-day basis and are very cautious with respect to pricing in order to remain competitive,” he said.
Michael Fallico, vice president at F.G. Lister & Co. Ltd., said business is stable compared to a year ago.
“There are a lot of things going on in the economy, but generally speaking, we’re moving forward, and we’re holding our own,” he said.
With inflation and constantly rising prices, the cost of doing business has increased significantly over the years, said Angelo Alberga, vice president of sales and general manager at Canadian Fruit & Produce Co. Ltd.
“But we still try to keep it affordable for consumers,” he said.
Despite fluctuating prices and cold weather, distributors on the market offer a wide selection of nutritious fruits and vegetables.
Ippolito Produce offers about 800 stock-keeping units, including leafy greens, garlic, onions, ginger, yams, sweetpotatoes, snow peas and carrots, Bacchus said.
“We have everything from edible flowers to ethnic items like chayote and yucca,” he said.
Locally grown items include greenhouse or hydroponic Boston lettuce, bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts and leeks.
J.E. Russell is best known as a berry house that also offers salads, mushrooms and organic vegetables and has a big tropical business, Morton said.
“We continue to grow our grapes business and our citrus business,” he said. “We have expanded our relationship with [Salinas, Calif.-based the Nunes Co. Inc.] to include more conventional veg to sell along with our organics.”
North American Produce Buyers is a leader in the deciduous fruit category, which includes grapes, cherries and stone fruit, Schmekel said, adding that it also has jumbo blueberry programs and citrus programs.”
The company strives to be a trendsetter in all its categories, Schmekel said.
“We continue to work with our grower partners to develop new and worthwhile additions to our existing portfolios, whether it be from a commodity innovation perspective or packaging solutions,” he said.
Some of the special items F.G. Lister carries at this time of year include juicy jumbo cantaloupe from Guatemala, sweet and juicy grapes from Peru, orri mandarins and pomegranates from Israel, and sweet stem-and-leaf clementines from Spain, Fallico said. The company offers a full line of vegetables, navel oranges and lemons from California as well.
“We are also expanding our organic product line, which includes apples, oranges, mandarins, lemons, broccoli, celery, romaine hearts and cauliflower, just to name a few,” he said.
Locally grown apples also are available.
“We offer a great local apple named the Red Prince apple,” Fallico said. “It has a crisp and snappy flesh and a refreshing, sweet, tangy flavor, and it’s packed in a biodegradable and recyclable bag.”
Canadian Fruit & Produce Co. is strong in vegetables, steady in citrus and “super strong in watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew,” Alberga said.
“We are known to be the melon kings,” he added.
The company, which is celebrating its 99th anniversary this year, sources melons from Mexico, Texas and offshore locations like Guatemala and Honduras.
From mid-June into September, the company has a local watermelon program under the Sun Vine label.
