“Everything we do comes down to relationships and communication,” said Dominic Riggio, the company’s president. “We stay competitive primarily through our supplier relationships.”“We are thinking about and planning our customers’ needs before they are,” Riggio said. “It is our job to procure the right product, at the right price, at the right time for our customers. We rely on their loyalty, and they rely on our experience and service.”
The Riggio team sees many of its customers in person on a daily basis and they become part of their daily interactions and operations.
“We get feedback in real-time as our product is being received, stored and shipped,” Riggio said. “We know our customers’ expectations for both quality and service. We experience most of our customers’ feedback right on the spot every day starting at 3 a.m., which gives us a true feeling of what we need to do to continue to be a valued supplier.”
Being successful does not come without issues, but by partnering with some of the best growers in the world and learning their challenges the company is better able to strategize its business plan.
“As a fresh produce wholesaler, we have many challenges,” Riggio said. “We sell things that grow out of the ground, so of course weather is a variable we are used to contending with. The challenges continue through logistics, warehousing, shipping and managing market conditions. Our team has many decades of experience and we view the daily challenge as opportunities.”
To stay competitive, Riggio Distribution continues to add new products and suppliers to its portfolio.
“As our suppliers offer more and different items and varieties, we make those available to our customers very quickly,” Riggio said.
