A.J. Trucco’s ‘TruStar’ line of branded products moving strongly

Something great is always happening at A.J. Trucco, located on the Hunts Point Terminal Market, and this season is no different. The company’s long tradition of importing and distributing Italian chestnuts continues, as does its widely expanded commodity line that includes kiwifruit, citrus, blueberries, grapes, garlic and figs, a wide array of dried fruits and nuts and an organic line.

On April 1, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nick Pacia, said that the company was finishing its Chilean fresh fig season.     “And we’re happy to report that this was a strong season,” he said. “We will be switching over to our fresh figs from Arizona and California in May, and we are excited to announce that our Californian fresh figs will be branded under our new ‘TruStar’ line of branded items.”

Nick Pacia, president and chief executive officer and Sasha LoPresti, director of business development and food safety at A.J. Trucco Inc. on the Hunts Point Produce Market.The brand, Pacia noted, was launched last December in conjunction with the arrival of its organic Italian clementines. The program met with great success, so the company decided to expand the brand across its other commodities.

“We recently finished our Chilean blueberry season, and we’re now offering blueberries from Florida,” said Pacia. “We’ve experienced tremendous success with blueberries in general, and this is one commodity that Trucco will be growing over the next year. We will be once again offering blueberries from New Jersey this summer and, like the Californian figs, these blueberries will be branded under our exciting new ‘TruStar’ name.”

A.J. Trucco was also in the process of transitioning to its Chilean kiwifruit season in early April. Pacia said he is thrilled to announce that this year the company will be offering gold and organic green kiwifruit from Chile, in addition to conventional green kiwifruit.

“We recently hired a nutritionist to come up with some fun and exciting healthy recipes for our kiwifruit, and we look forward to incorporating those into some demos and events this summer,” Pacia added.

A.J. Trucco has implemented the Produce Traceability Initiative, commonly referred to as PTI, across all of its kiwifruit and is expanding the program to encompass all other commodities. The company is fully committed to food safety.

“Not only do we operate out of a distribution facility that is PrimusGFS certified, but we also require third-party audit certificates from all of our growers to ensure the safety and quality of our product for our customers and for consumers,” said Pacia.

The company also supports not only the locally grown movement, but domestic produce in general. Pacia said it always offers local product when possible.

“We are proud of our New Jersey blueberries, and we are working with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to get our blueberries ‘Jersey Fresh’ certified so that we can demonstrate our commitment to supporting local produce to our customers,” said Pacia.