Mastronardi Expands Greenhouse Produce Distribution in Southern U.S.

Posted by Brian Sparks|December 16, 2020

Mastronardi Produce has become the latest greenhouse vegetable growing operation to expand its distribution capabilities in the Southwest. The company, which grows and markets produce under the SUNSET brand, has announced the opening of a new 185,000-square-foot facility in Laredo, TX, near its current distribution center.

Customized to the company’s needs, the warehouse was designed to efficiently provide pick-and-pack operations in support of the demand for SUNSET-branded fruits and vegetables from retailers and foodservice operators in the region. The move comes just after Mastronardi’s announcement that it will be opening a distribution center in British Columbia.

“Laredo has been a very important location for us for many years, but we’ve outgrown our old facility,” says Paul Mastronardi, President and CEO of Mastronardi Produce. “With this new facility, we are significantly increasing our ability to efficiently service customers across the Southern region of the U.S. with the freshest, highest quality SUNSET produce.”

The new facility will feature an upgraded, state-of-the-art operating system for inventory tracking, customer fulfillment, receiving, shipping and tracing of produce from farms to consumers. It will include multi-temp cooling zones allowing for storage of the company’s newer commodities that require varied temperature control, such as berries and lettuce. And at triple the size of the old location, it also brings additional value-added packing for the company in the South, reducing transportation times and enabling more direct shipments of fresh SUNSET produce to customers in that region. With 78 dock doors, the new facility will also significantly increase the speed and efficiency of cross-docking. The center will be served by an ever-growing network of farms that will benefit from the increased efficiencies obtained by the new facility. The site also includes room for expansion in the future.

The facility is located near the Pharr-Reynosa Bridge, where much of the nation’s produce crosses from Mexico, making it ideal for efficient transportation. The facility employs many of the same staff from the former facility, but with the expanded space and demand, the company is looking to expand its workforce across multiple positions.