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Ongoing Obstacles
The Detroit markets have faced a number of challenges this year, from unfavorable weather to road construction issues. “When there’s tough weather patterns in growing areas, it’s a big challenge for us to get the volume we need,” Russo explains.
Much like 2014, the winter of 2015 was brutal with extreme cold and snow throughout the Great Lakes State. And on top of winter’s often subzero temperatures and cool spring, the Detroit markets were also dealing with traffic headaches. The city of Detroit has been working on a $24 million upgrade of streets and bridges in a project called Link Detroit. “This construction has caused detours and bottlenecks in the Eastern Market area,” Carmody recalls. “Fortunately, the worst is over, and the work in 2015 will be less of a nuisance than it was last year.”
While traffic and weather are certainly obstacles, Stone says the biggest issue for Ben B. Schwartz is time—but in a good way. “We’ve been so busy, we often run out of hours in the day,” he remarks. “No one’s complaining. The people who are selling produce are just as happy as the people who are buying and eating it.”
On the Horizon
As a whole, Detroit’s purveyors of produce look to the future and remain extremely hopeful. When asked if the challenges affecting Detroit’s fruit and vegetable industry differ from other markets, Stone says, “I don’t know that they do. I think people run their businesses differently, and that may be the only difference. Around the country, we’re all doing the same thing as effectively as possible: if you’re a good wholesaler, you’re a good wholesaler, no matter what city you’re in.”
For his part, Carmody believes the Eastern Market “will continue to evolve as one of the most comprehensive regional food hubs in the United States,” he predicts. “And together with the Detroit Product Terminal, we will develop a much more efficient terminal facility over the next five years.”
Image: ©iStock.com/Cornelia Schaible/chelovek.
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