KENOSHA, WI — Chicago-area independent retail grocery strength is being capitalized upon by Heartland Produce Co., situated in a new industrial park, here, a few miles west of the scenic shores of Lake Michigan.

Heartland has operated from Wisconsin since 1994, according to third-generation family member Ryan Dietz, director of business development. His father, Bill Dietz Jr., heads the company, which operates from an 80,000-square-foot warehouse.

Ryan Dietz said the produce distributing business serves customers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Retailers are Heartland’s primary customer base, although “we serve other warehouses that serve foodservice operations. We do no foodservice ourselves. We are not geared to foodservice delivery. We ship full semi-trailers” to customers. These include large individual stores belonging to major independent retail operations as well as warehouses of major retail grocery companies.

“We are growing our business every year,” Dietz said. “We have 18 people in our sales office. Many of our people have a retail background. It’s been good.”

When Dominick’s Finer Foods Inc., headquartered in Oak Brook, IL, closed its stores on Dec. 28, 2013, it created new opportunities for Heartland and the many other produce distributors in the Chicago area. Dietz indicated that independents have quickly taken on that business, which is serving the interest of the region’s produce distributors. “This is good for the retailers and us. It’s a dynamic marketplace.”

Furthermore, Grand Rapids, MI-based retailer Meijer Inc. recently bought the Supervalu distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, WI. “We are right around the corner,” from Pleasant Prairie.

Heartland is working with packaging, organic produce and new business applications to add to its growth. “We do some overwrapping” in the Heartland facility. “We had done clams and bagged citrus for years. We do no precut here at this point.”

Heartland Produce has a merchandising team to support its retail customers. This includes consulting insight, help with planograms and reset labor.

“We have room to grow,” Dietz continued. “This will be a matter of continuing to do what we do, whether that is to find new accounts or growing areas — and increase business with existing accounts too.”

“Key for us is our relationships with vendors and customers,” he said. “We built by offering our customers the best quality and the best shippers, with consistency.”

Except for imported products, Heartland Produce buys as much as 99 percent of its produce direct from shippers. “We don’t directly import. We do load out of all ports — McAllen, TX, Nogales, AZ — and the seaports” around the United States.

Shorts and some small-volume specialty products are bought from Chicago distributors.

Eight years ago Heartland doubled its warehouse capacity to its present size. The cold chain-controlled facility has nine loading doors on each side of the warehouse. One side is dedicated to shipping and the other is for receiving.

The warehouse operates almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “The receiving crew arrives at 2 a.m. The latest shipping crew leaves almost as the receiving crew arrives.”

Heartland has moved to Produce Pro software, “which has been a great addition” to the firm in many respects. To mention a few services, Dietz uses Produce Pro to create bills of lading, enjoy a paperless warehouse management system and to track barcodes identifying lots and pallets for warehouse efficiency. The barcoded pallet tracking “minimizes mistakes,” he noted.

Decades ago in Chicago, Ryan Dietz’s grandfather Bill Dietz Sr. partnered with Ben Kolodenko to open Dietz & Kolodenko on South Water Market. Dietz & Kolodenko currently operates on the Chicago International Produce Market but is not owned or operated by the Dietz family. Heartland Produce was created by Bill Dietz Sr. and Jr. It was first established in Elgin, IL, 25 years ago. The move to Elgin was “to serve outlying areas” by avoiding Chicago traffic. “We’ve been in Kenosha since 1994. I started in 2000 and I’ve enjoyed it,” Ryan Dietz said.