Produce Never Sleeps

My son has mentioned on numerous occasions (especially around family members) that “Produce never sleeps.”  It sounds cliché, but I marvel at watching the next generation of dedicated produce merchants strive to fulfill customer needs.

One recent day at 4:30pm we received a call in desperation from a customer needing a pallet of ripe avocados.  Ours were too green, but through the perseverance of a number of young guys and gals (and some marvels of the connected generation) we were able to source those avocados from a produce house that had already closed for the day, reroute a truck to pick them up and make the much needed delivery by 7:00pm.   Everyone involved in coordinating this effort either was or should have been at home for the day.

It didn’t stop there…  We had a batch order that is placed by the pound per the customer’s recipe.  We were 13.7 pounds short of celery.  At 6:00pm we were at the local grocery store buying those last few bunches of celery to fulfill the order.  To be out grocery shopping rather than being home eating dinner is dedication.

A few years ago I would have told you that unwavering dedication was dying out of our (and every other) industry.  What I have seen recently is quite the opposite – it is alive, well and awake!