Rico's Produce
Rico's Produce

Fresh fruit, every month
of the year.

We buy direct from growers at home and abroad, import as the party of record, and deliver anywhere in the country.

I'm buying I'm a grower
USDA Organic HandlerFSVP Importer of RecordQualified Individual in-houseEDI via iTradeNetwork

Coverage

Every fruit. Every month. Every origin.

Multiple origins per fruit is what turns a seasonal offer into a year-round program, and what keeps one bad harvest from becoming your out-of-stock.

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Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Table Grapes
Apples
Pears
Cherries
Stone Fruit
Kiwi
Tangerines
Lemons
Limes
Avocado
QuietestBusiest

Who we are

We trade every day. We also sign for the load.

Rico's buys and sells fresh produce daily. That is not a sideline. It is how we stay current on what a market is actually paying, where a deal is short this week, and which shipper is performing. On top of that we import as the party of record: the hazard analysis, the customs entry, the organic chain of custody and the capital behind the fruit.

Most companies do one or the other. Doing both is why our program pricing is grounded in the real market and our program supply is grounded in a contract.

01

Certified organic handler

Rico's Produce is a USDA-certified Organic Handler. Organic product moves through our program without breaking the certified chain of custody. The paperwork travels with the load.

02

Importer of record with an in-house Qualified Individual

We are the FSVP importer of record under 21 CFR 1.500-1.514, with a Qualified Individual on staff. Hazard analysis, supplier evaluation and verification are performed in-house, not outsourced to a consultant and not pushed onto the buyer.

03

A trading desk behind every program

We buy and sell fresh produce every day, across domestic deals and imports alike. That is how program pricing stays grounded in what the market is actually paying, and how we know where a category is short before it shows up on your shelf.

04

Seven gateways, nationwide delivery

Product enters through California, McAllen, Houston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey, and moves out as LTL or full truckloads to every region of the country. One team owns the load from the packing house to your dock.

05

We carry the program

Rico's finances the purchase, the freight and the duty. The grower is paid on our terms, not on the buyer's. That is what makes a direct grower relationship hold together across a full season.

What we own

Six steps between the packing house and your dock. We own all of them.

  1. Step 1

    Source

    Direct contracts with growers and packers in each origin. No intermediary between the field and your program.

  2. Step 2

    Verify

    Hazard analysis and supplier verification under FSVP, performed by our Qualified Individual before the first pallet ships.

  3. Step 3

    Finance

    We buy the fruit and pay the freight and the duty. The grower is paid on our terms, not on the buyer's.

  4. Step 4

    Clear

    Customs entry, FDA prior notice and the organic chain of custody, handled as importer of record.

  5. Step 5

    Consolidate

    Loads build at the gateway, mixed pallets and mixed origins where the program calls for them.

  6. Step 6

    Deliver

    LTL or full truckload to your distribution center, anywhere in the country, tracked by one team.

Where it comes from

12 domestic regions. 10 countries.

We buy from US growers and we import, and it is the overlap between the two that closes a category. Which fruit comes from where is public; who grows it is commercial information that goes to your team under NDA.

How we source

Rico's Produce contracts directly with growers and packers in each origin. Grower identities, current signed certificates and audit reports go to your QA and buying teams under a mutual NDA before a program launches.

Logistics

7 gateways in. The whole country out.

Product enters through whichever door is right for the origin and the season, consolidates there, and ships as LTL or full truckloads to every region of the United States.

Fruit from 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries enters the United States through 7 gateways (California, McAllen, Houston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey) and reaches every region of the country.LATIN AMERICA10 countriesand the CaribbeanCaliforniaLand crossing & sea portMcAllenLand crossingHoustonSea portMiamiAir & sea portNew YorkAir & sea portPhiladelphiaSea portNew JerseySea portUNITED STATESNationwideLTL and full truckloadsCUSTOMS · FDA · ORGANIC CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Northeast

New York/New Jersey metro, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Washington

Fed from: New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia

Southeast

Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee

Fed from: Miami, Houston

Midwest

Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, the Ohio valley

Fed from: McAllen, Houston, New Jersey

South Central

Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas

Fed from: McAllen, Houston

West

California, the Pacific Northwest, the Mountain West, the Southwest

Fed from: California, McAllen

How the network works

Technology

EDI, ERP integration, and compliance that does not live in a spreadsheet.

How we run

EDI

We transact on EDI through iTradeNetwork

ERP integration

We integrate directly with customer and supplier systems

Traceability

Lot-level traceability, one step back and one step forward

Food safety software

Supplier verification and documents run on purpose-built software

Let's build a direct-source program.

Tell us the categories you are trying to cover and the weeks you are trying to fill. We will come back with the origins, the calendar and the compliance file.

Talk to us