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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Matthew D'Arrigo, Owner of Hunts Point Produce Market, on the Hunts Point Market and Produce Distribution in NYC
1:29:31
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4 min
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Matthew D'Arrigo, an owner at Hunts Point Produce Market for 51 years, provides insights into the market's operations, its importance to NYC's food distribution, and plans for redevelopment. He emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between the market and small green grocers in the city, as well as the challenges and unique characteristics of produce distribution in the dense urban environment.
- The planned rebuild of Hunts Point Market would increase cold storage capacity by about 50%, from current 28,000-30,000 pallet positions to 42,000.
- The market operates on a day-to-day trading basis, with prices fluctuating based on supply and demand, often maintaining a slight oversupply to drive bargains for consumers.
- The market and its customers typically have only 3-4 days of produce supply, ensuring freshness and rapid turnover.
Matthew D'Arrigo
1:29:31
Shall I go next, Arthur?
1:29:32
I'd be happy to.
1:29:33
I'm Go ahead.
1:29:35
Thank you.
1:29:35
Matthew Dorigo.
1:29:37
I am an owner of one of the 26 merchant firms at the Hunts Point Market.
1:29:42
I have been coming here to work for fifty one years now since I was in high school.
1:29:50
Growing up in this market, it's more of a home to me than it than my home almost, I would say.
1:29:56
The changes in our industry and the changes in our city and the changes in our food supply have been slow and steady over the years.
1:30:04
And over the last if you look at it every five years, you you you notice it, but you don't notice it day to day.
1:30:10
Our market is 58 years old now.
1:30:13
It's been a wonderful asset for the city of New York and and, has done a tremendous job of distributing produce.
1:30:21
The hunts the New York Metropolitan Area is a unique area for produce distribution because of the density of population, the high price of real estate.
1:30:32
I heard a lot of talk about cold storage, and things of that nature.
1:30:36
It's a real challenge to find space.
1:30:38
None of our small green grocer customers have a lot of backroom refrigeration, so they rely on our Hunts Point Market as their warehouse.
1:30:49
The rebuild that we've been trying to get done for, twenty five years now, we have a real shot at it again at this point.
1:30:59
The size of the market and the size of the cold storage that would occur from the rebuild, I would think would be about a 50% increase.
1:31:11
The new market is mapped out currently at 42,000 pallet positions.
1:31:18
Our current four buildings, row a, b, c, d, have about 20,000 pallet positions, and there's about eight or eight or 10,000 pallets that are on the TRU's, the storage trailers that we use.
1:31:31
The market has not been big enough to hold its inventory since the early seventies.
1:31:37
We are a little bit of an overflow market, so there's always a bit of oversupply there.
1:31:43
But it's also what drives bargains for the consumers.
1:31:49
Produce is very, very much a supply demand dominant business.
1:31:54
Contracts and things like that do not impact our market.
1:31:57
We are more a day to day trading place.
1:32:00
Our customers come every day.
1:32:02
They look for bargains.
1:32:03
They they negotiate very hard with our salesman.
1:32:07
And every day, work out, and sometimes prices go up, sometimes they go down.
1:32:12
But we are a a market of last resort, and therefore, we always have a little bit of an oversupply on, say, half of the commodity we sell and a and a little bit of an undersupply on half the commodities we sell just as a way an average over time.
1:32:29
The the relationship we have with our customers and with our city is is symbiotic in nature.
1:32:40
There there would not be a Hunts Point market the size that we have if there weren't thousands of small green grocers that use us as their warehouse and survive because there's no super large supermarket chain around them competing.
1:32:57
They they rely on us for their supply.
1:33:00
They shop five days a week.
1:33:03
The market has maybe two or three days of supply in it before it runs out, and I would say our customers have about another day.
1:33:10
So it's very, very fresh by necessity.
1:33:14
You really can't do it any better, and I don't think you want to because you want produce to stay fresh and you want it to turn over as quickly as possible.
1:33:24
The symbiosis has been around forever, and I don't anticipate it going anywhere unless, the big banner chains figure out a way to battle the real estate business in New York and come in and invade our boroughs.
1:33:36
There are a few exception examples of success, but I don't anticipate anything, happening to our customer base or happening to the necessity of the Hunts Point market.
1:33:48
I can go on and on and on here.
1:33:51
There was talk about rail and barge and over the road trucks being weighed and and so I can answer any specific questions that anybody might want to, but, I I think I'll end my comments here.
Gale A. Brewer
1:34:13
I think you're the only one speaking from the market.
1:34:16
Right?
1:34:16
Is that correct?
Matthew D'Arrigo
1:34:18
Think so.
1:34:19
Yes.