“ Our role now is to be able to educate consumers. They don’ t just want a nice tomato, they want to know where the tomato came from, who grew it and what their ethical philosophy was.””
General Produce, which receive products from other states and countries, an important market.
General Produce’ s story starts in 1906, when Chan Tai Oy immigrated to California from China. Chan sold fish and produce in what is now Old Sacramento, making deliveries with a horsedrawn cart, a far cry from the 47 trucks his descendents manage today. He didn’ t officially start General Produce until 1933, founding it that year with his three sons and one nephew.
Chan passed General Produce on to the next generation. It is now owned and operated by his grandsons, Tom and Dan Chan, who took over in 1979 on a bit of a lark and out of a desire to see the family business remain in the family— both left behind lucrative jobs with national companies in the Bay Area.
Now, Tom serves as CEO and Dan as president, although the two cousins work as equal partners, with Dan acting as the numbers guy and Tom handling marketing and sales. From humble beginnings in a horse-drawn cart, General Produce now employs a staff of more than 200. It also has a second, smaller distribution hub located in Mount Shasta.
When Tom and Dan took over, General Produce carried about 150 products. Today it carries about 2,000, including 30 varieties of apples alone. Customer demand for a wider variety of food— driven by increased concern over nutrition, more sophisticated palettes and interest in environmental sustainability— has forced this expansion as well as created niche demands for General Produce to satisfy.
One example of this is the increased demand for kohlrabi, a type of cabbage that can be eaten raw or cooked and which, to the untrained eye, looks like a cabbage / turnip hybrid. At one point in General Produce’ s history, the company stopped carrying kohlrabi all together. It isn’ t the tastiest vegetable, and demand among restaurant patrons and grocery shoppers simply wasn’ t there. But with an evolving emphasis on healthy eating,
General Produce now stocks more kohlrabi than ever, distributing it to schools that provide it to students as snacks.
“ Our role now is to understand what consumers want,” Tom says.“ I don’ t think we’ re in a position to drive people to certain fruits or vegetables. Our role now is to be able to educate consumers. They don’ t just want a nice tomato, they want to know where the tomato came from, who grew it and what their ethical philosophy was.”
Federal food safety mandates also require more accurate sourcing for agriculture. General Produce accomplishes this with software that tracks products from order entry through the receiving
General Produce carries 2,000 products and makes roughly 600 deliveries each day.
“ Our role now is to be able to educate consumers. They don’ t just want a nice tomato, they want to know where the tomato came from, who grew it and what their ethical philosophy was.””
~ Tom Chan, CEO, General Produce
January 2018 | comstocksmag. com 35