Produce distributors in the St. Louis market offer hundreds of items and are already preparing to take on some traditional holiday favorites.
Vaccaro & Sons
Business was healthy at Vaccaro & Sons Produce on the St. Louis Produce Market Inc. in early November, “but it’s flattening out, just like it normally does at this time of the year,” says Dale Vaccaro, general manager. He was hopeful sales would experience a bump for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
Vaccaro & Sons stocks about 300 items at this time of year, but tomatoes are the firm’s bestsellers.
The company has 25 to 30 different kinds of tomatoes, Vaccaro says, including romas, brown tomatoes, Sapori, Campari and Flavor Bombs.
“Romas are the most economical tomato there is,” he says. “They’re versatile, and you can use the whole tomato.”
Midwest Best
St. Louis-based Midwest Best Produce Co. Inc. has brought back its Mighty
Melon watermelon label and added a unique touch to its fall pumpkin program.
The company has long shipped watermelons under its Midwest Best label, says Edin Saric, owner and president, but this year the firm reinstated the Mighty Melon label it used about eight years ago.
“We wanted to add a second label to our watermelon line — something that stood out and attracted consumers’ attention, other than just our company logo,” he says.
“We ultimately would like to push the Mighty Melon label as our go-to label” and eventually use the label for other items the company offers, he says.
The company has no plans to discontinue the Midwest Best label, however.
The firm sources watermelons from seven U.S. states from April to October and from Mexico during the fall and winter.
Midwest Best also expanded its fall heirloom and white pumpkin program.
“People are buying pumpkins of different colors or shapes to make more creative displays for their homes,” Saric says.
Midstate Produce
Midstate Produce Co. Inc. on the St. Louis market has undergone a warehouse expansion project, says Joe Sanders, owner and president.
“We took 5,000 square feet of old, original units that were inefficient, tore them down and reconfigured the space,” he says.
The new cooler can store any kind of produce at 42°F.
The project will allow for more space and efficiency and help ensure the cold chain is properly maintained, he says.
Midstate Produce ships a full line of products, which includes salads, lettuces and tomatoes.
As fall progresses, offerings will include items like hard and soft squash, cabbage and potatoes. For Thanksgiving and the holidays, sweetpotatoes, celery, cranberries and seasonal citrus are set to take center stage.
The company brokers organic produce but does not store it in-house.
“There’s a need [for organic], but not a big need,” Sanders says.
He adds that he’s thought about acquiring certification to store organic produce at the facility and that might happen in the upcoming year.
Place of Origin
Although Vaccaro & Sons Produce still had some local products, like cabbage, kale and spinach in early November, supplies will dwindle after the first freeze, most likely by late November, Vaccaro says.
Midstate Produce tries to procure local items like potatoes, onions, greens, cabbages squash and pumpkins during the fall, Sanders says.
“Over the winter, we try to keep that going as long as we can,” he says.
The company sources product during this time of year from growing areas in Arizona, California, Florida, the Northeast, the Northwest and Canada, Sanders says.
Midwest Best sources tomatoes from Florida; beans and corn from Georgia; apples from southern Illinois; and vegetables like lettuce, cauliflower and celery from California, Saric says.
That program was scheduled to move Arizona for the winter shortly.
