In the coming years, Ray forecasts substantial growth in these formats. Steadily growing Gordon’s Food Stores is present in all the Midwestern states, except Iowa.
Requisite Challenges: Food Safety, Labor and Weather
Of the Middle West’s top challenges, many are the same as suppliers throughout the United States: food safety, labor, and weather.
Fresh Thyme opened its third Cincinnati location this year.
Food safety ranks high
One issue felt by West Coast grower-shippers but not felt in the heartland was severe drought or a lack of available irrigation water. Instead, for most receivers, food safety is front and center. “Food safety is an ever-evolving issue as standards change,” comments JohnCo Distributing’s Bennett.
In this respect, Loffredo believes sourcing direct helps. “We buy all produce direct from shippers,” he says, and adds that the company has partnered with ProAct for the last 17 years. He considers ProAct not only a valuable resource, but believes the alliance has helped his business “sustain our competitive advantage in the foodservice arena.”
Weather ups and downs
Weather, too, is an ongoing and all-too-familiar challenge. “Weather in the Midwest is very unpredictable—you can have hail and thunderstorms in one county and blues skies in the next,” Comito remarks. “Because our grower network is very diversified and geographically spread out, we’re able to have a pretty consistent supply of local products through the whole season, even if we would have a weather event in one part of the Midwest that would affect supply.”
The 2016 Midwest tomato deal was night and day from 2015, says tomato repacker Ray. “Heavy rain has certainly challenged nearby growers this year, but rain hasn’t curtailed the tomato crop like it did last year,” he remembers. “What we saw in 2015 was unprecedented. Our Eastern summer tomato markets were all curtailed, which forced everybody out to California, where the heat was really impacting tomato shelf life.”
