Always something new happening at Procacci Bros.

Procacci Bros., with four units at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, is one of the leading wholesalers in the Northeast. The company also runs a warehouse in South Philadelphia and a farming operation in South Jersey.

The company provides a full line of produce, including back-of-the-line items like salads and dressings, as well as floral, organic and specialty items.

Business is off to a great start in 2023 with Rick Feighery, vice president of Procacci Bros., noting the company can always take on more.

“We always have our eyes up looking for what’s next — there’s always room for expansion,” he said. “Year over year and month over month, we’re very steady, though there’s always shifts and bobs and weaves. We like adverse markets, which we are in again. The market now seems very similar to fall of 2022 when supplies were very tight. We’re feeling that right now with the rains in California, which is causing some erratic supply and tight markets, which is where the terminal markets do best.”

There’s always something new going on at Procacci Bros., and right now in the pipeline, the company is working on an e-commerce platform for its floral department and working on some new communication strategies with its IT team to better take orders from stores. It also has a construction project underway to consolidate some of the labor force for pre-pack.

“It’s kind of nice to see a brand-new building going up, it’s been a while since we had something shiny and new,” Feighery said. “We’re very fortunate to stay busy.”

Procacci Bros., is in the midst of its 75th year in business and Feighery noted that being a family-owned and family-run business and having a third generation of people coming up with Joe Procacci’s grandkids maturing in the business, has made things pretty exciting around the business.

He considers the company fortunate in its geography — getting to work in Philadelphia, and where it sits in relation to the ports and major cities around it.

“It’s a ‘foodie town,’ and has been since pre-pandemic,” Feighery said. “People are now back eating in restaurants and it’s always a buzz for where the best places are and that adds excitement to the fresh produce industry.”

In fact, one of the questions in the recent Mayoral race during a debate was “what’s your favorite restaurant,” and Feighery shared he was not surprised, because of Philadelphia being such a food-centered town.

Procacci Bros., was one of the original tenants on the Dock Street Market, of the old Galloway Market, and now one of the original at the newer market.

“We’ve always had a strong presence here,” Feighery said. “We work to better communicate with customers and make the job easier for everyone. That’s our focus right now.”

The company’s customers include everyone from walk-up cash trade, to walk-up retail, to retail delivery, to restaurants and independent retailers.

“Honesty, supply and listening are the keys to strong relationships,” Feighery said. “You have to have good quality and be aware of what’s going on all the time and what’s available, and keeping the pipeline filled with something to promote.”

As of early May, that meant being ready for the Mexican grape deal, California cherries and stone fruit that’s going to crank up on the East Coast soon.

Mike Maxwell, president of Procacci Bros., added that the company’s goal is to facilitate the movement of produce and over-communicate with customers to guide them and give them items that are compelling to sell in stores.

“That’s what we do and that’s why we’re successful,” he said. “We compete every day.”