CHICAGO — Cee Bee Cartage Inc. has been providing independent transportation services to Chicago’s produce trade for 50 years.

The firm moved to the Chicago International Produce Market when it was built in 2002.

The firm was started by Tony Capone Sr., who remains active in the business with his four sons, Tony Capone Jr., fraternal twins Tim and Jim Capone, and Chris Capone.

Tony Capone Jr. said there are three other cartage companies on the market, but “we are the only ones with warehousing. We cross dock” to serve independent shippers and retailers.

CHICAGO — La Galera Produce this year expanded its space on the Chicago International Produce Market by moving to another, larger unit.

The move to 25,000 square feet allowed the company to increase its sales by as much as 45 percent, according to La Galera’s 32-year-old owner Pepe Vega Jr.

Vega has a sales staff of five, including himself.

The company sells fresh produce to serve the Chicago area’s Hispanic population.

CHICAGO — Serving fresh produce to Chicago schools was an important motivator for Panama Banana, located on the Chicago International Produce Market, to receive its USDA-GAP food-safety certification.

Tom Durante, a salesman and buyer for Panama Banana, said, “Because I deal with the school systems, we had to be certified.” The USDA certification “is required of us here.”

CHICAGO — Life should always enjoy such symmetry.

This September, as Strube Celery & Vegetable Co. celebrates its centennial anniversary, the firm is also aggressively moving toward the future under fourth-generation leadership.

Lisa Strube, the director of finance and administration, said the firm’s new motto is “Over 100 years old and still fresh.”

CHICAGO — In early August, Anthony Marano Co. applied established apple-grading technology to its tomato business.

In an Aug. 20 warehouse walk, Anton J. Marano, vice president of operations and the son of company owner Anton T. Marano, showed The Produce News two shiny-new tomato-grading lines that had only been in use for two weeks.

The Compac-brand lines provide a number of efficiencies, Marano said.

CHICAGO — The sales mix for Mandolini Co. on the Chicago International Market has somewhat shifted toward retail in the last couple of years, according to Greg Mandolini, who owns the firm.

The mix of retail and foodservice was previously about even, but it shifted as consumers moved to “more home entertaining” as opposed to going out to eat. Thus retail customers now buy about 60 percent of Mandolini sales.

“This affects our product mix and changes how you approach things,” Mandolini noted.