D’Arrigo succeeds with steady growth through the years

For more than five decades, the family-owned and operated D’Arrigo New York has provided the New York Metropolitan area with a full line of the highest quality fruit and vegetable items available every day of the year from its 112,000-square-foot warehouse inside the Hunts Point Produce Market as well as its 30,000-square-foot facility across the street in the Bronx, NY.

Things have been business as usual for the company going into fall, and while they were looking forward to attending the PMA show, everyone understands the reasons it needed to be cancelled for 2021.

“The silver lining is there’s been a big leap in people who have signed up for the New York Produce Show, which is in our backyard,” said Gabriela D’Arrigo, vice president of marketing for D’Arrigo New York. “They’re telling us there’s potential for the whole entire show to be sold out with record numbers. That’s always a positive thing for us.”

With the pandemic still rearing its ugly head, it’s kept D’Arrigo New York from doing a whole lot new, because the company wants to be cautious and not bite off more than it can chew. With that thought process in mind, the strategy for the fall and winter is both careful and hopeful.

“The term that we have been using a lot, that seems to be catching on, is ‘cautiously optimistic,’” D’Arrigo said. “We’re hoping we’ll see volumes and business return like pre-pandemic. On the flipside, we’re hearing that the potential for people not wanting to go out, fearing the flu season, and questions about booster shots…we’re hearing two different stories. At the same time, we’re trying to keep our finger on the pulse and see what happens.”

That makes it really difficult to predict or project what will happen. D’Arrigo New York is looking at what happened last year during the pandemic and then 2019, and shooting for the middle in its plans for the months ahead.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty and with issues of transportation and raw materials, that’s throwing a whole other wrench into the plans of what people are trying to do industry-wise,” D’Arrigo said. “The wood for the pallets, freight costs, gas, diesel fuel, labor—all of this stuff has been impacted. Reliable labor has been almost impossible to come by.”

Trending items at the company are health conscious and immune-boosting products, and overall there is a lot less meat at the center of people’s plates, moving away from processed stuff.

“They are going for a much more natural option, which is great for produce,” D’Arrigo said. “We’re seeing that but it’s not enough to really make the numbers change with a great amount of excitement. Organics have been pretty consistent, and while there were some peaks and valleys throughout the pandemic, cost has become much more important. The jump we saw initially during the pandemic has definitely calmed down.”

All around the Hunts Point Market, the bargain buyers are back and trying to keep their businesses afloat.

Morale at D’Arrigo New York and the other companies in Hunts Point remains something that has fluctuated throughout the year as well. In the summer, everyone seemed up, and going into fall, there’s still a high sense of morale as people get back into the back-to-school routines. But there’s definitely a pitfall on the horizon with the winter months ahead.

“We try to anticipate as best we can what that’s going to look like and what we can do internally to help keep the spirits of our employees up, but it’s definitely tough,” D’Arrigo said. “We are an industry that didn’t stop. We didn’t have the work-from-home option. We were here every day and people are tired. There’s definitely that fatigue that comes.”

D’Arrigo New York is proud of the work its employees have done and are finding ways to reward the strong behavior and show a sense of solidarity.

And the company continues looking for ways to increase business.

“There’s always opportunities for growth, whether you are in a good year or bad year,” D’Arrigo said. “It’s how aggressive you want to get with that growth is what dictates what ends up happening. We traditionally as a company have taken the approach of gradual growth. It’s shown for 70-plus years that works for us.”