Are you down with OPP?

Those of you familiar with rap music might remember a hit song that Naughty By Nature had which included the lyrics, "Are you down with OPP?" We here at Peddler's Son Produce hope that you are not down with OPP, Other People's Produce. Peddler's Son Produce strives to bring you the best quality of product that is available.

Yesterday I was out to lunch with Helen in Avondale, we had decided on Mediterranean. We started with Babaganoosh for an appetizer, which was really good to my surprise. I had decided on the lamb kabobs and Helen had ordered a lamb gyro. The gyro came with sliced 6x6 tomatoes that were not ripe and just looked sad. The tomatoes looked as though they had underwent the "gassed green" process. This means that the picker tried to ripen the tomatoes with gas instead of letting them ripen on the vine naturally. So, I then proceeded to inform the waiter about my position as Peddler's Son Produce's resident Produce Guru. After showing the waiter the poor quality of the tomatoes, I inquired about his current produce supplier and asked if he knew if the restaurant was happy with that company. The waiter came back after talking with the manager and informed me that the manager was happy with where they go (a local supply depot) to buy their produce and was not looking to change. It just so happens that the depot where they buy their produce is a current customer of Peddler's Son Produce (but does not buy tomatoes from us). With the help of Mark Damato, Peddler's Son Produce's Vice President of Retail Sales, we confirmed that the supply depot had only "gassed" tomatoes in stock and not a single vine ripened tomatoe in the depot. See what happens when you are down with OPP? If you were a customer of Peddler's Son Produce, you could rely on quality produce being delivered to your door 6 days a week.

Whether it's Paco, Doug, or myself, when ever we unload product from a truck we are immediately scrutinizing it for quality issues. (That's Doug over here on the left conducting a temperature check on some cucumber crates this morning.) If there are any issues, the product does not make it past our receiving dock. Not only do we look for problems with the product itself, we also visually inspect the packages that the product is packed in, we inspect the pallets that the packages were shipped on, we inspect the interior cargo hold of the trailer the product was shipped in, and multiple temperature checks are conducted. One of the tests that I enjoy the most is the taste test. My consumption of fruits and vegetables has really grown since coming to work here at Peddler's Son Produce. It's not unusual to taste some Ugli fruit from Jamaica, seedless watermelon from Nogales, and Starfruit from Taiwan all in the same day.

If you own or manage a restaurant, eatery, or resort; stop on by the warehouse any day of the week and take a look at our quality control standards for yourself. You never know, maybe you'll get to taste test some mangosteens with me.