STATEN ISLAND, NY — With most fresh produce items throughout the Eastern Seaboard coming on early this year — thanks to an unusually warm winter and early spring — La Bella Marketplace was offering a good variety of New York state items to shoppers in mid-June.

Among the many New York vegetable items on the shelves at this supermarket here on Staten Island — one of the five boroughs that comprise the city of New York — were Romaine, leaf lettuces, Boston, Swiss chard, beets, onions and leeks. Clamshell containers of baby spinach from Schmitt Farms on Long Island were available. During their season, the store also handles local products such as Empire and McIntosh Leonard Pesce (right), owner of La Bella Marketplace, and his son, Nicholas, with some ‘Empire’ brand salt potatoes. The elder Mr. Pesce opened the supermarket in November 2011. (Photo by Gordon M. Hochberg)apples.

Mark Vaccariello, produce manager at the supermarket, said that while quality on some New York items during some previous years had been “a little off,” this year “quality seems to be pretty good.” He mentioned green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce and Romaine as examples of items that looked particularly good this year.

Mr. Vaccariello also mentioned the earlier timeframe of local crops. “New York items are early this year because of good weather earlier in the season,” he told The Produce News June 12. Signage on the local produce was marked “Pride of New York” to alert consumers that it came from the Empire State.

La Bella Marketplace opened in this upscale area in November 2011. It is owned by Leonard Pesce. The store runs about 28,000 square feet overall, of which about 24,000 square feet is selling space, according to Mr. Pesce, who noted that the produce department accounts for about 12 percent of the store. Mr. Pesce designed the entire supermarket himself.

When shoppers come into the store from the parking lot, fresh produce is the first thing they see, most often seasonal items. On the day of this visit, bins of Southern watermelons and a display of California cherries welcomed shoppers, leading them into the full produce department, with vegetables displayed on the left, fruit displayed on the right, and a center display of varied items.

Mr. Vaccariello, 52, has been produce manager since the opening, but he is no stranger to produce or supermarkets.

He started his produce career in 1976 working part time, then full time, at Waldbaum Inc., where he stayed for eight years. After a couple of short stints at ShopRite and A&P, he spent 19 years at King Kullen, beginning in 1989. He joined Wegmans Food Markets in 2007, where he stayed until joining La Bella Marketplace around October 2011.

La Bella procures all of its fresh produce from wholesale grocer Bozzuto’s Inc., headquartered in Cheshire, CT. Ken Brickel, perishable sales manager at Bozzuto’s, visits the supermarket every other week to assist with merchandising and special advertising activities.

The supermarket, located somewhat off the beaten path, has an “Italian flavor” to it, noted Mr. Brickel. In addition to carrying a full array of fresh produce items that consumers — including those of Italian heritage — look for, such as escarole and dandelion, La Bella maintains varied and beautiful displays of cheeses. In fact, the owner brought in a machine from Italy to produce truly fresh mozzarella right on site. The machine, which shoppers can watch in action, produces 100 pounds of fresh mozzarella in 60-90 minutes, according to Mr. Pesce.