Michigan produce distributors say summer sales are off to a strong start, and they expect robust business to continue throughout the season.
Rocky Produce
“Our summer line of fruits and vegetables is going full force,” says Dominic Russo, buying and selling director for Rocky Produce on the Detroit Produce Market.
Summer is a busy period with items like California grapes sizing up and stone fruit reaching maturity, he says.
“We’re looking forward to more promotable pricing,” he adds.
Locally grown tree fruit should kick off soon, and a number of local veg items will be starting as well.
“We do a good job of focusing on our offerings of local produce,” Russo says.
The company offers tomatoes, corn, peppers, leafy vegetables and “pretty much everything on the vegetable side,” he says. An organic program includes salad mixes, apples, berries and other items.
“We make use of the opportunity [for organics] when it’s there,” he says.
Rocky Produce, a fixture on the market since 1957, serves a number of independent customers who come by the market to pick up orders, and the company delivers product to others. The company has customers throughout the Midwest and into Canada.
Business as a whole has been very good so far this year, Russo says, noting they’ve had an up year so far.
Superior Sales
Superior Sales, Hudsonville, Mich., offers asparagus, fall squash and “all vegetable items that are grown throughout the summer” except potatoes and onions, says Randy Vande Guchte, company president.
“We have a broad range of items for our customers to choose from for a one-stop shop,” he says.
But the company is putting particular emphasis on its tray pack corn and its celery sticks programs this year.
“We increased tray pack corn and celery sticks quite a bit this year,” Vande Guchte says.
Superior Sales puts up its own private label for each of those items and also packs some celery sticks in chain stores’ labels.
Overall sales at the company were up in May and June and continuing the trend in July, he says.
Growing conditions have been good for the firm’s producers in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. The company mostly serves customers east of the Mississippi and loads out of Hudsonville and Benton Harbor, Mich.
Superior Sales is undergoing a transition. Vande Guchte’s sons, Dakota and Jordan, will gradually take over control of the company over the next three to five years.
“It’s time to transition over to the next generation,” Vande Guchte says.
Riggio Distribution
Riggio Distribution Co. on the Detroit Produce Terminal serves independent retailers, national chain stores, broad line distributors, independent foodservice operators and food manufacturers throughout the Greater Midwest, says Dominic Riggio, company president.
“Between conventional and organic [produce], we carry more than 600 products,” he says.
Summertime business is heavy on local produce like stone fruit and berries along with the company’s entire product lines, Riggio says. Offerings include melons, citrus, tropical fruit, cooking vegetables and salad vegetables.
“We source from all major growing areas year-round,” he adds. “And we stock and handle a full line of organic products daily.”
Tariffs and ICE
As of late July, produce suppliers say they hadn’t been seriously affected by President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs or by ICE immigration crackdowns.
“Some tariffs have caused some delays or issues, but we put our focus on what is working and work through the challenges we can’t control, like the tariffs,” Russo says.
“There’s been nothing that’s too hard for us to get our heads around and navigate through,” he adds.
Regarding immigration, Russo says he heard some growers’ migrant workers had not shown up during the spring, but there had been no serious consequences.
“Nothing to the level where it stopped us from getting produce,” he says.
Vande Guchte says he is not aware of any consequences of tariffs so far.
“If they put a tariff on Canadian product, it would probably mean we could get more money for American product,” he says. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.”
And he says he was not aware of any problems with ICE at his operation or at his growers’ locations.
“I think a lot of people are nervous about ICE coming in, but I think they’re looking for criminals,” he says. “I don’t think they’re look for people who are here illegally but are working.”
