South San Francisco market head suggests operating hours change
South San Francisco market head suggests operating hours change
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The wholesale produce markets are broken and they need to be fixed, according to Pete Carcione, president of Carcione's Fresh Produce Co. Inc. as well as president of Golden Gate Produce Terminal in South San Francisco.
The markets will continue to attract buyers in large part because they can cut and taste the produce there before buying it. Mr. Carcione just wants them to do it at a later hour.
One of his main mantras is that wholesale produce terminal hours nationwide should be changed to better accommodate the lives of those who work on the markets.
Several years ago Carcione's Fresh Produce Co. Inc. became an employee-owned company, and Mr. Carcione now comes in between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. instead of between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Businesses on Golden Gate Produce Terminal largely are male-dominated, as is true with wholesale produce markets nationwide. It's getting harder all the time to attract young men to the profession, Mr. Carcione said. With shifts starting in the wee hours of the morning, workers are predisposed to going to bed in the early evening. Their social life is cramped as a result, a circumstance that does not work well.
The wholesale produce markets open in the early morning hours out of habit more than a real need to do so. But pretty much all the merchants on a wholesale market have to be in agreement on changing the hours because companies fear losing ground to the competition if they loosen up on their hours of operation, Mr. Carcione said.
Despite the early hours of operation, wholesale produce terminals - including Golden Gate Produce Terminal - are doing well, Mr. Carcione said. Golden Gate Produce Terminal likely does more volume than the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market and the much smaller Oakland Wholesale Market combined.
Wholesale produce markets provide an opportunity for growers to sell their produce quickly and efficiently in a cost-effective manner, thus keeping down the prices at supermarkets and other retail outlets. These markets provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the geographic areas they serve. Buyers can come five days a week, whether they represent medium-sized chains, small stores, individual stores or gourmet stores. Buyers are showing up at more reasonable hours, an encouraging sign for both wholesalers and buyers, Mr. Carcione said.
The independent Golden Gate Produce Terminal was established in 1962, splintering off from the city-owned San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The wholesale produce business has since changed dramaticallys.
"Prices at the market is where prices were fixed," Mr. Carcione said. "Everything came in hot and everything was on commission. Produce had to be sold that day."
Dramatic improvement in refrigeration is another area that Mr. Carcione cited in his argument to relax hours on the wholesale markets. Because produce now stays fresh longer, buyers can buy ahead and not need a presence at the market five days a week.
(For more on the Bay area, see the Jan. 23 issue of The Produce News.)
The markets will continue to attract buyers in large part because they can cut and taste the produce there before buying it. Mr. Carcione just wants them to do it at a later hour.
One of his main mantras is that wholesale produce terminal hours nationwide should be changed to better accommodate the lives of those who work on the markets.
Several years ago Carcione's Fresh Produce Co. Inc. became an employee-owned company, and Mr. Carcione now comes in between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. instead of between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Businesses on Golden Gate Produce Terminal largely are male-dominated, as is true with wholesale produce markets nationwide. It's getting harder all the time to attract young men to the profession, Mr. Carcione said. With shifts starting in the wee hours of the morning, workers are predisposed to going to bed in the early evening. Their social life is cramped as a result, a circumstance that does not work well.
The wholesale produce markets open in the early morning hours out of habit more than a real need to do so. But pretty much all the merchants on a wholesale market have to be in agreement on changing the hours because companies fear losing ground to the competition if they loosen up on their hours of operation, Mr. Carcione said.
Despite the early hours of operation, wholesale produce terminals - including Golden Gate Produce Terminal - are doing well, Mr. Carcione said. Golden Gate Produce Terminal likely does more volume than the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market and the much smaller Oakland Wholesale Market combined.
Wholesale produce markets provide an opportunity for growers to sell their produce quickly and efficiently in a cost-effective manner, thus keeping down the prices at supermarkets and other retail outlets. These markets provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the geographic areas they serve. Buyers can come five days a week, whether they represent medium-sized chains, small stores, individual stores or gourmet stores. Buyers are showing up at more reasonable hours, an encouraging sign for both wholesalers and buyers, Mr. Carcione said.
The independent Golden Gate Produce Terminal was established in 1962, splintering off from the city-owned San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The wholesale produce business has since changed dramaticallys.
"Prices at the market is where prices were fixed," Mr. Carcione said. "Everything came in hot and everything was on commission. Produce had to be sold that day."
Dramatic improvement in refrigeration is another area that Mr. Carcione cited in his argument to relax hours on the wholesale markets. Because produce now stays fresh longer, buyers can buy ahead and not need a presence at the market five days a week.
(For more on the Bay area, see the Jan. 23 issue of The Produce News.)
