American Produce Company, one of Southern California’s leading produce distributors, today announced that it is restructuring its operation to focus on a limited number of fresh produce lines, and will concentrate on added-value services such as scheduled delivery, ripening services, and custom-packing of orders. American’s LA Produce Market location will specialize in Tomatoes, Bananas, Berries, and Papayas, along with ReadyPac prepared salads. “We felt that if we were to be at the top in terms of quality, then we needed to take a broader stance in fewer products, rather than trying to be all things to all people,” stated APC President Dennis Werner. Other departments have been shut down or transferred to other distributors in the LA market.
By specializing in just a few core items, Werner believes American will be able to build stronger relationships with high-quality growers, as well as attract customers who need the added value and reliability planned by American Produce. “There are two ways to look at reliability, Werner continued. “You can stock one of everything for anybody that walks in the door, or you can provide superior quality in a few core departments, and build a recurring clientele who depend on you for that category.”
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Tomatoes for example, will be a major item in the new APC product lineup. “Customers have wide-ranging needs in terms of packaging and variety,” Werner explained. “By narrowing the number of departments, we can now focus on delivering quality, and working with each customer to create special programs. We’d like to become Tomato Central for Southern California.” Bananas and Berries are also core items in APC’s plans. American has long been known as the leading distributor of Chiquita bananas, with the largest ripening facility in Southern California. Berries play a major quality role in every produce customer channel. Here again, a focused grower relationship along with strong variety and quality create a reliable partner for a retail or foodservice end user.
The focus on fewer categories, with more items per category has also allowed APC to reduce its space at the market to 2 1/2 bays. “We needed greater space-efficiency in order to move forward,” said Werner. “This allows us to maintain our presence in the market on an affordable basis with four doors per side plus temperature controlled zones.” Along with the shift to fewer categories, Werner has signed a management contract with Okazaki Brothers to run the APC store at the produce market. “They have a flawless reputation for quality, and bring the type of relationship with growers that will improve both the reliability and quality we’ve been striving for,” noted Werner.
One area that won’t be affected by the reduction in departments is APC’s Scheduled Delivery Service, which continues to grow as a full line supplier. Scheduled Delivery Service is an innovation APC introduced two years ago. Produce Express, as the delivery service will now be known, allows APC customers to place produce orders by 5 PM and receive their fresh produce delivery before noon the next day. Produce Express has grown in range and customer base, and now serves customers from San Diego to Santa Barbara, CA, and inland to Bakersfield and Riverside.
APC’s ripening facility will be moved, together with Produce Express, from its current Seventh Street location to a modernized operation close by on Wholesale Street within the next three months. “We needed a more efficient cross-dock configuration in order to improve the timeliness of our service,” says Produce Express manager Richard Martinez. “To maintain full-line delivery and offer custom-ripening services required a unique configuration, so we designed our own.”
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By GlobalDataWhen restructuring is completed in November, American will have three distinct operating groups. American Produce Company at the LA Produce Market; Produce Express Scheduled Delivery Service, and APC/Readi-Ripe, the new ripening facility for bananas and other selected items. In addition, a web site is in final stages of preparation for Produce Express, giving customers a more efficient and more accurate way to order over the Internet.
“It makes sense from both a quality and a business standpoint,” Werner concluded. “We operate in an age of specialization. We’ve always been ripening and conditioning specialists. We’re pioneering e-commerce produce sales. And we want to improve our quality focus on the street in the categories we know best.”
About American Produce
American Produce Company was founded in 1977 and distributes to Southern California fresh produce customers from Los Angeles. The company operates three business units; Produce Express scheduled delivery, The LA wholesale store, and a fresh Banana ripening service group. The American Produce Company mission is to be the preferred choice for value-added produce and produce services, focusing on core categories and quality brands.
