Longtime local wholesaler J&J Produce recently opened its doors, figuratively speaking, to the public.
They’ve been primarily a wholesaler but began selling boxes of mixed fruits and vegetables to individuals after the coronavirus moved into Forrest County.
Generally, “schools and restaurants are our biggest buyers,” said Marcus Nause, who co-owns the shop with his father, Ricky Nause. He noted that local hotels and grocery stores round out the company’s typical contracts.
Regarding schools and restaurants: “Of course, we’re not doing much business with either of those right now,” he said, since many restaurants and almost all schools are closed due to the COVID-19 virus.
The decision to open to the public had frequently been discussed prior to the onslaught of the current coronavirus.
“I’ve always said we’d sell to anyone who wants to buy produce,” Marcus said. “We just didn’t have a regular outlet for selling to the public.”
There were seasonal sales to churches, to be assembled into Christmas fruit baskets and the like, but the company never intentionally marketed to non-wholesale markets.
“This is something both of us [father and son] had thought about, that we had talked about,” Marcus said. “But the virus gave us the catalyst we needed to get us going. It’s a way to help people, to keep them from having to go to the grocery store if what they really want is fresh produce. Here, you don’t even need to get out of the car.”
Some people, he said, hang an envelope with cash from their vehicle window and pop the trunk. The box goes in, the envelope is collected, “and there’s no real contact at all.”
While the company is providing a service to the community, a large part of the impetus was to keep their doors open, and to pay the employees on staff, while many other businesses are being forced to cut back, Ricky said.
The company has about 15-17 employees, Marcus said, and “everybody does a little bit of everything.”
The building has approximately 10,000 feet of refrigerated space, while the facility as a whole is just about three times that size. The company’s produce comes from all over the country, including Georgia, Alabama, California, Washington, Michigan, Idaho potatoes, Louisiana satsumas, Florida oranges and the list goes on.
During the weeks since they officially opened up to the public, J&J has been selling 50-75 boxes of mixed fruits and vegetables every day, Marcus said.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, they make deliveries in the Hattiesburg area. On those days, more than half of the boxes sold are delivered. On Monday and Friday they sell about as many, but all of them are pick-up orders. There is a $5 fee for delivery, raising the price from $25 to $30.
Until recently, J&J Produce delivered to outlets in a wide circle around the Hub City. Since they aren’t able to do that anymore, they are trying to coordinate with people who would like deliveries to Laurel, Ellisville, Columbia and maybe a few other semi-local locales.
“Not everybody can get down here to us,” Marcus said. “We know that. But right now we’re only delivering to Hattiesburg.”
When enough people express interest in those surrounding areas, delivery outside the immediate Hattiesburg area could begin.
J&J is a Hattiesburg-specific institution. It was started by Marcus’s grandfather and great-uncle, Joe and Jack Forte. Joe, Marcus’s maternal grandfather, is now 94 years old.
The shop opened in 1946 when Joe and Jack bought a delivery company from their elder brother, Vincent.
The company “was a totally different animal back then,” Marcus said.
Back then, from the 1940s up until even the 1970s, they bought their produce directly from markets, primarily in New Orleans, and would sell a good bit of it to mom-and-pop stores along Highway 11 before getting back home to Hattiesburg.
Sometime soon, the company will change in other ways: 70-year-old Ricky is “trying to retire, and I’m trying to get him to retire,” Marcus said. “He told me that he wanted to retire when he hit 70. But he’s been here a long time and knows everything about the business.”
Anyone interested in taking advantage of the service should call the J&J Produce office at (601) 582-1512 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Expect to wait a few days for availability and preparation. And don’t bother bringing a credit or debit card: They prefer cash, although checks may be used, as well.
J&J does have a Facebook page (with over 10,000 views in the past few weeks) but Marcus said he can’t guarantee anyone will check it in a timely manner. These days, they’re keeping busy on the loading dock and in the warehouse.
