Dallas food wholesalers are now selling retail produce boxes to meet consumer grocery demand

At 10:30 on Tuesday morning, in an empty parking lot at Coit and Campbell roads in North Dallas, where all businesses had shuttered due to the city’s stay-in-place ordinance to combat the spread of coronavirus, a long line of SUVs snaked around a Hardie’s Fresh Foods delivery truck.

The truck normally delivers its fresh produce wholesale to area schools, restaurants and grocery stores, but the drivers of these SUVs are regular consumers looking for food.

One by one, they pulled up to the truck’s open back end, and the drivers handed over a $20 bill or a credit card through the passenger’s side window in order to keep 6 feet of social distance. A Hardie’s employee put a large box of fruit and vegetables in the back of each SUV, along with this week’s bonus, a vacuum-sealed sack of mixed lettuce meant to go to an Olive Garden restaurant.

“It’s good for us, and it’s good for the community,” Jody Catka of Hardie’s said, waving the next car in line to drive up.

The Hardie’s Fresh Foods business model didn’t look like this a week ago, but like many Dallas-area food businesses, they’re quickly pivoting and changing as they need to in order to stay afloat. In this case, they’re also offering an affordable and convenient option for residents who’d rather not go inside a grocery store right now.

“Fresh food is No. 1 for me,” said Megan Pharis, an attorney who’s now at home with her 13-year-old daughter. She was in line for two boxes, one for the two of them and another for her elderly parents who live nearby. “If I can stay in my car, not have to touch a credit card terminal or a grocery basket, all the better.”

It’s the second week that Hardie’s has offered the $20 boxes in Dallas parking lots, a grab bag of that week’s fresh fruit and vegetables, and at wholesale prices. The Tuesday box was stuffed full: three heads of romaine lettuce, two bunches of cilantro, four poblano peppers, a container of cherry tomatoes, five large carrots, four pears, five apples, three oranges, three lemons, plus enough lettuce to feed half of the customers in an Olive Garden on a Friday night.

Michelle Weech, vice president of marketing for Hardie’s, says they plan on continuing the weekly parking lot box business. “It’s been crazy,” she said. “It’s our intention to keep doing this as long as possible. People have to eat, and we have a refrigerated warehouse full of fresh product. We’re trying to be fair [with our prices] and keep people employed, and I know people need access to fresh foods.”

The mixed fruit and veggie boxes are also available at the Hardie’s warehouse in Oak Cliff. People can also order specific items that they have in stock online at hardiesdirect.com, pay for it online, and then drive to the warehouse when the order’s ready ― usually the next day ― for curbside delivery service. Besides fruit and vegetables, Hardie’s also sells dairy and specialty meats, like chicken breasts and Wagyu beef patties.

Near the Galleria, FreshPoint, the produce arm of the mega-wholesaler Sysco, is now selling to the public for the first time, too.

“We heard from our associates that their friends and families were having a hard time getting fresh food and dairy, so we made a commitment to open up to everyone,” said David Hartman, president of FreshPoint Dallas. “We thought it was the right thing to do. There was a need, and we’re happy to help.”

FreshPoint offers primarily fresh produce. Right now, for example, they have apples, corn, seedless grapes, kiwi, asparagus and blueberries in stock, plus several dozen other items, along with dairy and juices. Customers can simply call or email their orders and pay for it with a credit card, then drive up, and someone will bring the food out to them and put it in their car. So far, Hartman says, business is brisk.

“We’re surprised at how well it’s going and how quickly the word is spreading," he said. "We put it on Facebook last night, and the response has been incredible.”

Another wholesaler, USFoods’ Chef’Store in Farmers Branch, is a one-stop restaurant supply and food supplier that has always been open to the public, but few people actually knew about it, according to new business associate Jody Mattson. “I put something on Nextdoor, and the word just spread like crazy.”

Unlike Hardie’s and FreshPoint, Chef’Store is a walk-in situation ― there’s no curbside delivery service here ― but the prices are wholesale rather than retail. While the store carries a variety of fruits and vegetables, plus some not-so-common items, like frozen frogs’ legs, halal meats, and frozen baguettes and croissants, Mattson said that the biggest sellers right now are toilet paper, paper towels, and rice and beans.

How to order

Hardie’s Fresh Foods posts its weekly box sales on its Facebook page, and you can order from them online, too. Ordering is easy and you receive a confirmation to let you know that your order is being processed and when it’ll be ready. Pickup is at their warehouse at 1005 N. Cockrell Hill Road. 214-426-5666, hardies.com. Visit hardies.com/news/hardie-s-produce-box-trucks for updated lists of truck locations.

FreshPoint takes orders over the phone but prefers that you send via email to: FPDallasMarket@freshpoint.com, and they’ll send you a list of what’s fresh and available. Then you place your order via email, pay, and pick up from their warehouse at 4721 Simonton Road. 972-385-5800.

USFoods Chef’s Store is walk-in only at its Farmers Branch store. 4240 Alpha Road. 214-647-4500, USFoods.com.