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As one of the largest wholesale produce distributors in North America, Philadelphia, PA-based Procacci Brothers has also been a longtime supplier of organic vegetables.
While the firm can’t be described as an early adopter, it did begin experimenting with an organic line in the last century and shortly after the turn of this one, it launched a robust program. “We’ve had a full-scale program since 2000 or 2001,” said Procacci Vice President Rick Feighery. “There was a big rush (in the industry) after the organic labeling laws went into effect (2001). We predated that by a little bit.”
He said the company had been experimenting with organics in the 1990s but by 2000 it had begun transitioning its acreage. “We saw it as more than just a niche,” he said. “We saw that it could be an important part of our DSD (Direct Store Delivery) program.”
Procacci Brothers opened its doors in 1948 as a tomato re-packer and over the decades has become one of the largest distributors of fresh market tomatoes in North America. It follows that the company would launch its entry into the organic sector in the tomato category and it did just that.
Joe & Mike Procacci, Founders, Procacci Brothers
“We started with tomatoes but quickly expanded into cukes, green and red peppers, green and yellow squash, the hard squashes and several others. Now we have about 10 items with a year-round organic program,” Feighery said.
They include the core items mentioned above as well as many different tomato varieties, including organic Santa Sweets. Procacci is the exclusive distributor of the propriety specialty tomato varieties that come out of the Santa Sweets Inc. breeding program.
The company grows and sources its organic vegetables in several districts in Florida, two in Mexico and one in New Jersey. “We are continuing to see increased demand and good growth in the category,” Feighery said. And unlike reports from other growing districts, he said the company anticipates no issues in filling that demand with increased production. “There is plenty of land. We’ve made the commitment to the category and will continue to expand.”
Feighery said the company’s biggest challenge is not specific to organic production, though the challenge is labor and the growing of organic crops does require the increased use of hand labor. He said Procacci cut back on its organic acreage a little bit this spring because it started acquiring workers through the U.S. Department of Labor’s H2A program (temporary foreign workers). “That’s a new labor force for us so we had to do a lot more teaching about the handling of the crops,” he said.
He said the company is right back on schedule with increased organic production as the season moves forward.
Procacci Bros Santa Sweets Tomatoes
But Feighery went back to discussing labor and the significant impact it is having on the company’s bottom line. Labor costs have risen sharply in large part because of the requirements of the H2A program, which includes housing requirements and the paying of a prevailing wage rate.
“We’ve had to subsidize our program to maintain stable pricing for our customers. That has come at the expense of our bottom line. There is a significant labor increase with H2A and we are going to have to adjust our pricing structure,” he said. “We are looking at that right now and I’d say in the next six to 12 months, we will have to make some adjustments.”
But Feighery said the company is also looking at other ways to become more efficient in the growing, harvesting and packing of both its organic and conventional crops to positively impact the costing structure. He added that the organic line is not separate but rather part of the company’s program when it comes to improving the processes and adopting more efficient practices.
For the time being, Procacci is happy with its organic product mix and Feighery said no new product lines are in the works though the company is always looking for opportunities. He did say that there have been some packaging changes on the organic side as the company constantly strives to find more environmentally friendly packaging materials. Presently, the entire organic line is available in compostable and/or recyclable eco-friendly packaging.
