Providing produce to The Big Apple

How do you get fruits and vegetables to 8.5 million people?

If you live in the five boroughs of New York, it’s likely the fresh produce you’re eating came from Hunt’s Point Produce Market.

The first time I visited New York, it didn’t take me long to realize the food culture was vastly different than what I’m used to in eastern North Carolina. Most of the restaurants are independently owned.  Instead of large chain grocery stores, New York has small, independent retailers.

Produce must get to these restaurants and stores, and Hunt’s Point feeds about 60% of the city’s residents within a 50-mile radius of the market. The market started on the cobblestone streets of lower Manhattan in the 1790s. It moved to Tribecca before settling on 113 acres in the Bronx in 1967. I had a chance to tour one of the sheds at the 1-million-square-foot market while in the city for the New York Produce Show.

Produce comes into the market on trucks, rail, and ship. Vendors, who rent their space from Hunt’s Point, buy from local farmers in addition to farmers in 49 states and 55 countries. The diversity of produce on the market reflects the diversity of the market’s customers and their neighborhoods. 

As the city has grown and changed, so has the market. There used to be more than 90 companies working on the market grounds. Now there are just 30, many of whom absorbed those that closed their doors. Vendors used to be specialized, carrying around 10 items. Now a vendor may carry thousands.

The market was designed in the 1950s. Vendors now use forklifts and other equipment that wasn’t available then. Orders that used to be hand-written are now computer generated. Doors that were pulled down by hand have been automated. Temperatures in the rooms can now be adjusted remotely. The market is using between 500 and 700 refrigerated trailers because there isn’t enough refrigerated storage. Plans are in the works to give the market a $40 million facelift over the next 15 years that will incorporate much-needed changes to meet the needs of today’s produce industry.

The market employs around 2,000 people but its impact reaches beyond its gates. Hunt’s Point and its vendors donate more than 15 million pounds of surplus produce every year to hunger relief organizations. If you’ve eaten in New York City, you’ve probably eaten something that came from Hunt’s Point Produce Market. As Chief Executive Officer Philip Grant described it during the tour, the market truly is “a place of need.”