CCF Succession Article - DSM Register -12/30/2008
Posted: 12/30/2008 - 12/30/2009
Biz Buzz: Produce supplier saw recession coming
Brendan Comito, left, chief operating officer of Capital City Fruit Co., and Christian Comito, its chief executive officer, check some peppers in the company's Norwalk warehouse. Restaurant sales are down, Comito said, but up at groceries.
The fruit and vegetable business provides a unique view on the economy.
Brendan Comito, 41, chief operating officer of Capital City Fruit, said he saw signs of a recession coming in late 2007, which is when economists now said the national recession began. He heard it from his box suppliers and freight haulers, who saw reduced demand, and he saw it when employees began brown-bagging it more often, instead of going out to lunch.
So is the Norwalk-based supplier in a slump?
Not really, Comito said.
Sales this year to restaurants and food service providers are down, signs that people are dining out less, but sales to supermarkets are up.
The company supplies more than 100 types of produce throughout Iowa and to big cities including Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis.
Weather and other factors created challenges this year.
A salmonella scare, originally attributed to tomatoes but later traced to jalapeno peppers, hit in June, the company's biggest month.
"That set us back four months," Comito said.
Nationally, tomato sales continued to suffer in the third quarter, he said, although the company's sales recovered more quickly.
With three months left in its fiscal year, the third-generation, 59-year-old business is matching its results for 2006, a record year for the company. "We're cautiously optimistic," Comito said.
Comito and his brothers — Christian Comito, 37, the chief executive, and Kieran Comito, 40, produce account executive — purchased the business from their father, Joe Comito, this year.
Joe will continue as chairman and chief tomato buyer.
His father, Joseph Comito Sr., founded Capital City in 1949. The company has 120 employees.
"I once heard it said that you spend the first half of your life trying to be successful and the second half trying to be significant," Joe Comito said. "For me, part of that significance has now been realized with the successful transition."
Line feeder Felix Llanos prepares trays of tomatoes for wrapping in the Capital City warehouse. The company’s sales to restaurants and food service providers are down this year, but sales to supermarkets are up.