“We are ideally located near the airport, major highways, railways, and most importantly, the Port of Philadelphia (aka Philaport), making receiving fruits and vegetables a natural flow,” said Mark Smith, general manager of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. “We are also home to some of the best restaurants, caterers and retailers that keep us on our toes in demanding impeccable quality and variety.”
Currently, the market has three units available for lease — an extremely rare occurrence and a big opportunity for wholesalers.
“The units are configured to be utilized together; however, they are available to be leased individually,” Smith said. “Each unit is temperature controlled and is 3,500 square feet of storage space with 180-200 pallet positions. Additionally, second-floor office space with stairway access comes with each unit as does on site security, waste disposal and building maintenance.”
Leadership at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is always working to leverage the economy of scale of having 17 wholesalers under one roof.
“For example, we have reduced our waste costs by partnering with a non-profit, Sharing Excess,” Smith said. “Together, we are able to salvage about 90 percent of produce that is unsellable and divert it from the landfill. This not only saves on landfill costs and greenhouse gasses, but it feeds hungry people in our region. We are approaching 20 million pounds of fresh produce that was rescued in less than three years.”
The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is open to the public, so it can have any size of customer — from someone who purchases one case to a small corner store to a large supermarket chain.
“Logistics is always a challenge for our wholesalers, so we are extremely lucky to be in a marketplace that is easily navigated,” Smith said. “Inflation is a universal problem, and we do our best to balance the needs of our customers with the obstacles that face our growers.”
Always looking to do what’s best for its wholesalers, the market is continually upgrading its equipment to keep up with technology. Most recently, it replaced the refrigeration system and is expecting to see more improvements in the years ahead.
“Philly has always been a great produce town and one of the hallmarks of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is that we exist on a diet of cooperation and competition,” Smith said. “We trade amongst ourselves, deliver each other’s products to shared customers, and live up to our motto that ‘fresh is our life’s work.’”
