Business always strong for H.R. Bushman & Son
Business always strong for H.R. Bushman & Son
ST. LOUIS — For H.R. Bushman & Son Corp., based here, “business in St. Louis has always been good. It picks up some every year. There are no downs,” Sal Pupillo, the company’s owner, said.
Pupillo added that there are not as many small produce distributors in St. Louis as there were in the past. The number of mom-and-pop stores in St. Louis has dramatically declined.
Still, “there are a lot of good customers in St. Louis,” he said. These customers are in the foodservice and chainstore segments. “We sell some chains and we sell to people who sell to chains. It keeps a healthy environment.”
Pupillo credited operators on the St. Louis Produce Market Inc. with making “big strides on food-safety issues. The guys here have made huge strides to keep the cold chain and keep the environment safe to food. Food safety receives a big emphasis now.” Receivers “must be conscientious where their food came from and know about the growing practices. You’ve got to change with it or find something else to do.”
Pupillo spoke this spring to The Produce News in his newly refurbished office above the St. Louis market warehouses. A Nov. 21, 2013 storm “tore the roof off and there was six inches of water in this office. We had water coming through the middle walls.” After the roof was destroyed, then “other storms pounded water and blew tarps off. We couldn’t fix the office ‘til the roof wouldn’t leak. In late January we finally got the roof on well enough. I am so proud of the people that work here. They sat on boxes in the corners and tried to stay dry. I had pumps on the floor, pumping the water out the back window. It ruined all of our computers and our server.”
In November it was a straight-line wind that hit four units of the market.
If there was good news in the storm, it forced H.R. Bushman to throw away documents that had accumulated since the company occupied the St. Louis market in 1953. The incident led the firm to go paperless going toward the future.
By May, he was pleased to announce, “The office is back together. It smells new and it looks new.”