While the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market can trace its roots back hundreds of years, it has operated from its current 700,000-square-foot location, which it says is the largest refrigerated building in the world, since 2011. 

The modern refrigerated market isn't the facility's only strategic advantage, say merchants like Ryeco LLC, which has been in the produce business for 40 years and at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market for 22 years. 

Its location is also key. “We can get to Massachusetts and Virginia Beach on a daily basis and get the truck back the same day,” Filindo Colace, Ryeco vice president of operations, told The Packer. “[From the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market] you can get to more people than anywhere in the country, so we capitalize on that in a lot of areas.” 

But Colace sees room from continued growth. Ryeco is planning to build an approximately 20,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its current repacking operation outside the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. Colace says the facility will be four stories high and hold about 100 loads. He expects the expansion will increase Ryeco's offshore business, cross-docking and repacking capabilities. 

When The Packer spoke with Colace in mid-December, Ryeco had just received plans and estimates from several builders. “The expectation is that we'll probably break ground on the new facility sometime in the second quarter of next year, and we'll be in operation in 2024,” he said.

The fruit and vegetable receiver and distributor, which handles product from five continents, will also add four to six more trucks to its operations next year, Colace said.

The lessons of adaptability and resiliency learned throughout the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have also positioned Ryeco for future growth. 

“I think that 2022 was — I hate to use the words — but 2022 was a much-needed return to normalcy,” Colace said. “Our biggest goal in 2022 was to get our staff back up to 100% and to get our customer service levels inside the market and outside the market on our deliveries back to what they were pre-pandemic, and we accomplished that.”

With a full team in place, Colace says Ryeco is now looking “aggressively” to expand its business to new geographical areas where it doesn't currently have a strong presence. 

“Our plan is to expand our reach more into Connecticut, more into central and western Pennsylvania, and even more in the South,” Colace said. 

Based on its success developing its tomato business last year, Ryeco also plans to expand into a couple of additional commodities in 2023. 

And the company is implementing technological improvements to its warehouse operations, including wrist scanners for real-time order pulling. Colace says the company will go paperless with its orders in 2023 as well, further enhancing its productivity and service levels.

“You survive in business by expanding, and then everybody wins,” Colace said.

Bananas for produce

M. Levin & Co., a full-line wholesale distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables — specializing in bananas and tropicals at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market — has been in the produce business since 1906. To find out the key to this family business's success, The Packer recently connected with Tracie Levin, controller for M. Levin & Co.

“The secret to our success and longevity lies in the fact that I truly believe that my family loves what we do. We have a passion for the fresh produce industry and it is not just our work, but our life,” Levin said. “My family has worked very hard to be able to keep four generations going strong by instilling in each generation the value of hard work. There is no one in our family that has been told that they must enter into the produce business. Each family member who has worked for, or who currently works for the business, wants to be there.  

“We take pride in being experts in our field, and we are continually striving to learn new and improved ways of doing things to run our business and to keep our customers and suppliers happy,” she continued.

 
When it comes to bananas, M. Levin has more than 100 years of experience with the fruit. 

“Some would say that the Levin Family has bananas in their blood,” Levin said. “We've come a long way from ripening in cellars to our highly technologically advanced rooms.”

In addition to listening to its customers and striving to meet their needs, Levin says the company prides itself on being a source for merchandising suggestions, tips and tricks to maximize shelf life, storage and temperature advice, as well health and nutrition information.
 
How does the banana market look heading into 2023?

Levin says currently “demand is far greater than the available supply,” as storms in the tropics have kept supply low. 

“Because of this, the cost of bananas continues to remain high and 2023 looks to be following suit with lower supplies,” she said.