D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York, Inc., one of the nation’s largest wholesale produce distributors, has implemented a number of renovations and rebrands, plus a whole new side of business designed to take its operations to the next level.
Last January, the company purchased the John Georgallas Banana Distributors of New York, a company located just outside the Hunts Point Terminal Market and across the street. Georgallas was a long time banana company. Since the acquisition, D’Arrigo has been making major renovations of the facility. There are currently 13 ripening rooms providing space on-site for both organic and conventional bananas. Besides the ripening rooms for the bananas, there are two more rooms for plantains.
The changes are now allowing D’Arrigo to accelerate the growth its tropical department which was launched several years ago. With the acquired facility outside of the Hunts Point market, D’Arrigo now has more flexibility when handling product. At the Hunts Point Terminal Market’s cooperative, vendors can only sell fresh fruits and vegetables, while with D’Arrigo’s new operation just outside of the Hunts Point market, it can sell other products such as teas, juices or packets. D’Arrigo can now have the outside facility open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This move has changed D’Arrigo’s business model, allowing it to compete with other markets that have those capabilities.
D’Arrigo also has constructed new stalls in its wholesale facility, which was accomplished in phases. This started with its fruit department and eventually included the company’s vegetable and other departments. It resulted in the first major facelift in many years.
These renovations will result in the company having an additional 25,000 to 30,000 square feet of space.
The final stage of the construction will be coming this fall with the addition of new sales booths. This construction will allow the company to become more efficient.