New programs and expansions are always exciting at Procacci Bros. in Philadelphia, and this year is no exception. Following the great success the company has had with its proprietary line of “Santa Sweets” and “UglyRipe” heirloom-type tomato products, it is excited to offer both in plant form so that retail customers can offer consumers the opportunity to grow the tomatoes in their own backyards.Rick Feighery, vice president of sales, and Kevin M. Delaney, director of marketing, for Procacci Bros. in Philadelphia.

“We are working directly with our retail customers to promote these plants,” Rick Feighery, vice president of sales told The Produce News. “The response has been outstanding, especially among floral department buyers. But we are convincing retailers that they merchandise perfectly when they are in both the floral and produce departments.”

The plants are grown in a greenhouse in Central New Jersey. The seasonal program is scheduled to begin around Mother’s Day, although some stores had them earlier in a test program.

“Internally this is a big program for Procacci Bros.,” Mr. Feighery added. “Wooden rack shippers are available that hold 128 plants in a 50/50 mix of ‘Santa Sweets’ and ‘UglyRipe’ tomato plants.”

Procacci’s “Santa Sweets” grape tomatoes were launched in 1998. They are consistently sweet and high quality. The “UglyRipe” is also a proprietary variety that is equally consistent in high flavor year round.

As one of the largest wholesale produce distributors in North America, Procacci Brothers operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week in its state-of-the-art facilities in South Philadelphia, including units at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. Its seven warehouses are located at one of the East Coast’s busiest ports on the Delaware River. One of the plants repacks tomatoes and ripens bananas. Others are cold storage and distribution facilities. One facility is seasonally stocked full of everything, including the equipment, needed for consumers to make homemade wine. Its headquarter office takes up about three-quarters of a city block.

The company also has farming operations along the east coast for seasonal supplies, and facilities in Arizona.

 “We are a full line house of premium fruits and vegetables,” said Kevin M. Delaney, director of marketing for Procacci Brothers. “Our signature categories are tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, citrus, chestnuts, ethnic produce, exotic specialties, tropical produce, floral and wine grapes. We also carry a full line of organics.

“We are currently placing a lot of focus on our gift basket program,” he continued. “It is now available on our website to consumers, and we work closely with our retail customers to customize baskets for their particular consumer profiles.”

The fruit basket program is overseen by Rita Neczpor, marketing and packaging design coordinator for Procacci Bros. She said that while the company has offered gift baskets for over 50 years, customers today are more finicky about what they want.

“The level of creativity that can be put into gift baskets is endless,” said Ms. Neczpor. “It’s not just about the eight or 10 pieces of fruit, but also about the residual items like nuts, chocolate and other products that raises the value of the baskets. During the chestnut season, we use them in baskets that are especially demanded by stores and consumers in the Midwest and other regions where they aren’t readily available.”

Last year Procacci Bros. offered about 60 lines of baskets in approximately 200 individualized combinations of ingredients. The baskets range from $10-90 dollars.

“We are pushing the year-round availability of our gift baskets,” said Ms. Neczpor. “They are great for every holiday and special event throughout the year. And they cross-promote extremely well with the tomato plants.”  

The company was founded by Joe and Mike Procacci in 1948; brothers who started Procacci Bros. Sales Corporation in the cellar of their parents’ home. They never dreamed that the company would grow to the size and stature it is today, but their philosophy to tirelessly work to provide customers with the best product at the best price lives on.

“Everything at Procacci Bros. is interrelated,” said Mr. Delaney. “And everything we do is to service the needs of our retail customers in any way. Although our customer profile is strong in major retail chains, over time we have gained independent retailers. Today we service about 300 stores anywhere in the country that we can reach in 18-20 hours. That’s our profile, and that’s what we do every single day of the year.”