The Key to Sourcing the Best Seasonal Produce

Here at Riviera Produce, we let experience guide and inform our every step, decision, and recommendation we make to our customers. And experience has taught us that the best way to have access to the finest quality seasonal produce is by sourcing locally.

Now, local seasonal sourcing is not always easy, and things don’t always go as planned. Weather gets in the way (and we’ve all seen our fair share of challenging weather), pandemics emerge and force us into lockdowns, disrupting the supply chain, and so on.

The bright side is that we can always rely on nature to deliver the best organic crops season after season. By collaborating with local farms, wholesale produce suppliers like Riviera go straight to the source.

Despite its challenges, at the end of the day, seasonal sourcing is simply exciting. Every season comes with its own rich bounty of fruits and vegetables, and tracking seasonality to know exactly when to source produce is like a big, thrilling treasure hunt. Season after season, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to fresh crops in peak shape and optimal flavor.

For you as a restaurant owner, the benefits of seasonal sourcing are numerous. Customers now care far more than ever before about the origin of their food, and being able to provide them with locally grown seasonal ingredients demonstrates your commitment to freshness and quality. Not to mention it creates a sense of exclusivity which everyone is bound to appreciate.

Reliable food distributors with years of experience in the industry can be a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to building your customers’ trust and loyalty. They can handle everything from quality, selection, volume, and delivery, giving you time to focus on what matters: crafting great food and creating memorable experiences for your guests.

To make sure we deliver the freshest, quality-picked seasonal produce all year round, we collaborate with a large number of local, sustainable farms located all around New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Let’s meet some of our most trusted farms:

1. Hepworth Farms – New York

Spanning over 500 acres of fertile land, Hepworth Farms is a New York-based family-run farm that produces over 400+ varieties of sustainably grown vegetables. Their range includes anything from peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale and carrots to summer squash, stone fruits, beets, spinach and much, much more. Many of their fresh summer crops are available for order right now at Riviera!

2. Eckerton Hill – Pennsylvania

When New York runs dry on tomatoes, Eckerton Hill is the place to call. Our most reliable partners when it comes to summer heirloom tomatoes are the nice people over at Eckerton Hill. They grow over 200 varieties of vegetables – most notably heirloom tomatoes and peppers – on a 58 acre-farm Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.

3. Cresci Farms – New Jersey

With over 20 years of experience in growing quality produce, Cresci Farms offer a large variety of vegetables including greens, scallions, lettuce, squash and tomatoes.

4. Cassaday Farms – New Jersey

The fertile lands of Monroeville, New Jersey are home to Cassaday Farms, a 1500-acre farm that has been producing organic fruits and vegetables since 1870! From Cassaday Farms we source a wide range of produce including tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, eggplant, broccoli, zucchini, green cabbage, peas, beans, and more.

5. Satur Farms – New York

Satur Farms is a family-run farm sitting on 160 acres of fertile land in Long Island, New York. It provides us with an incredible variety of sustainably grown produce such as leafy vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, root vegetables, and herbs.

These are just a few of the farms we are grateful to collaborate with on a regular basis. To find out more about local sourcing, you can check out our page dedicated to our farms and partners. Local farms are key to our mission to deliver the best seasonal produce to you, month after month, year after year, while also reducing food waste and cutting unnecessary costs.