T.J. Rahll is the third-generation family member to operate Edward G. Rahll & Sons Inc., located at the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market in Jessup, MD. He told The Produce News that he was proud and happy to say that he graduated from the United Fresh Class 19 of the Produce Industry Leadership Program. The class graduated at the United Fresh expo June 10-13 in Chicago, IL.

“It was an amazing one-year experience, and certainly the highlight of my career thus far,” said Rahll. “The class included several trips during the year to farms and facilities in Ohio, Michigan, Delaware and Ontario. We attended a public policy conference in Washington D.C. and our final trip was to Nogales and Yuma, AZ.”

Other exciting news for the company is that the third generation is running the business almost entirely. It was founded by Edward G. Rahll, the company’s namesake. It moved onto the Pulaski Highway Produce Market in the 1950s, and then on to the Jessup Market when it opened in the mid-1970s. His son, T.J.’s father, Tom Rahll, was at the helm until several years ago but is now deceased. Today, only Joe Rahll, president of the company, represents the second generation.

“Three Rahll family members, including me, and one brother-in-law now pretty much oversee operations,” said Rahll.

The company handles a full line of fresh produce with greens, watermelons, corn and cantaloupes being the top items, followed by tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers and other field crops. It also handles a wide variety of herbs, ethnic, specialty and exotic items besides maintaining its traditional line of commodity produce, such as potatoes and onions, which it has handled for decades. Citrus from Florida and California, melons and stone fruits are also important items in the company’s line. From late fall to early spring, Edward G. Rahll sources from other growing regions in the country and from offshore.

Locally grown produce has always been the backbone of Edward G. Rahll, and Rahll said it’s certainly not going away.

“We’re seeing local growers switching up things,” he said. “They are definitely broadening their horizons because they know that locally grown is in demand, but that customers demand high quality. Consequently, local producers are concentrating on every detail to produce higher quality and they’re delving into different things.

“Communication between us and our growers is tremendous today as compared to a few years ago,” he continued. “They want to know what we need, including size packs, because they know that the pressure is on them to be at the top of their class.”

Rahll noted that this growing season has been amazingly good.

The company enjoyed a long stretch of high-quality product with minimal gaps, which he said, “makes everyone’s life easier, not to mention that we have plenty of beautiful product to offer customers.”

Kale, he said, is definitely booming, and although it is the current leader in the greens’ category, a few others are also selling strongly.

“The California grape season is now upon us, and that’s always nice,” Rahll continued. “Then we’re into Michigan and eastern apples. This is a real treat that we look forward to every year at this time.”

Rahll is also strongly geared up for other fall items such as squashes and pumpkins.

“We received our first shipment of pumpkins the last week of August,” he said.

“It’s a sure sign that summer is over when pumpkins and apples come on,” he continued. “Seeing them come in the door for the first time every year brings me a sigh of relief because it means that things are getting back to normal. And like everything else this year, the quality of the fall items is exceptionally good.”

Also strong in demand at Edward G. Rahll today are squashes such as butternut, acorn and spaghetti.

Rahll also noted that the company has worked very hard for a long time to prepare for its first Primus GFS audit, which it accomplished in February.

“We got a score of 95, which I’m pleased with as it was our first audit,” Rahll explained. “This is a major stepping stone. We’ll continue to work diligently to keep our score high and go even higher in the future.”