For 86-year-old Sal Vacca, the former owner of A.J. Trucco located on Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx, NY, retiring from a company he has been so deeply involved with since it was formed in 1960 is tough. But he says he’s ready.

Vacca’s story about being a U.S. emigrant from Italy started in 1949. Born in Capri, he was in school learning English World War II ended in 1945. He also had a business buying locally made espadrilles and taking them to Naples to sell. It was that year when a cousin of his father, Domenico D’Angiola, approached him with the idea of coming to the United States.Sal Vacca

“Domenico had already moved to the U.S.,” Vacca told The Produce News. “After the war he returned to Italy to re-establish his import business dealing in grocery items, including chestnuts. He asked me if I would like to come here, and I said yes, without even asking my parents.”

Vacca arrived on U.S. soil in 1949 and worked for D’Angiola until his death in 1956. Within a few years he started his own business selling chestnuts and canned tomatoes from Italy. Alfred Trucco, who dealt in dried fruits and nuts at the Washington Street Terminal Market in Manhattan, was one of Vacca’s customers.

“Alfred suggested we join companies, and we formed A.J. Trucco,” said Vacca. “We incorporated in 1961. When Hunts Point opened in March 1967, we were among the first to relocate.”

The company evolved over the years, and in 2000 it again joined forces with another firm and reorganized.

“We were doing business with Nick Pacia, who was supplying us with kiwifruit and other items,” explained Vacca. “We had developed a great relationship and agreed to join forces. I’ve sold my shares to Nick, and today he is the president and owner. In fact, I don’t even have a title. I’m fully retired — a free man — but something keeps drawing me back to the office most days.”

Much of that draw is due to the many close relationships that Vacca has developed with colleagues and associates over the years. Some say he’s irreplaceable.

One example is his long-time friendship with Anthony Sharrino, president of Eaton & Eustis Co. at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, MA.

Sharrino agrees with Vacca that success in the fresh produce business is all about strong and healthy relationships.

“My father gave Sal Vacca his first order around 1949,” said Sharrino. “We have spoken by phone every day since then. Even if he’s on vacation in Italy, he’ll call just to stay in touch.”

Vacca has no apprehension of leaving A.J. Trucco in what he says are in the “best hands possible under the guidance of Nick Pacia. It’s only going to continue to grow and evolve tremendously in the future.”

And he’s not short on plans of what to do with all of his free time once he does decide to not go to the office every day. He and his wife plan to travel back to Capri in August to visit his 90-year-old brother and large extended family. They also plan to go to India next spring and to South America in the future.

“I hear there are 80 museums in New York City,” said Vacca. “I have only been to five. I plan on seeing as many as possible.”

He noted that when he came to the United States in 1949 he lived in Hell’s Kitchen for two years.

“The woman who ran the boarding house at 441 W. 44th Street cooked dinner for us every night,” Vacca reminisced. “It cost $1.50 a meal, and the room was $6 a week.

“America has served me very well,” he continued. “It provided me with a great opportunity, which it still does today if you work hard. And it afforded me the greatest group of people with which to work and form friendships, from suppliers to customers and especially our neighbors and friend at Hunts Point.”