DNO Produce looks forward to return to school season

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School will be back in session this fall, and for DNO Produce the return to more normal school schedules is expected to be a boost to its foodservice business.

“We’re excited about back-to-school time,” said Alex DiNovo, president and chief operating officer of the Columbus, Ohio-based company.

With schools expected to be back in session with in-person attendance, school foodservice business should be booming for DNO, DiNovo said.

DNO Produce has begun a project to expand its fresh-cut processing capacity, DiNovo said.

The project, which will include new high-speed processing equipment, started this summer and will be completed by next summer, he said.

Demand for local produce is strong, and DNO is offering direct-to-store delivery of certain local produce items, including tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and sweet corn.

“We just started getting into some real nice local tomatoes and that is always a big deal with the retailers,” he said.

Organic demand continues to grow at a moderate pace, he said. DNO offers some fresh-cut organic options for retailers, he said.

Retailers have enjoyed a good year in Ohio, DiNovo said.

“(Retail) business is not as crazy as it was last summer, but it is still very good business,” he said.

Restaurant rebound

Though rising costs have put pressure on operators, the recovery of the restaurant sector is a positive, he said.

Demand for produce such as diced onions and tomatoes is up substantially compared with a year ago, reflecting growing restaurant business.

Still, he said the labor shortage at restaurants has held back demand compared with 2019 levels.

One difference from last summer is the absence this year of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) has contracted for produce boxes this year, and DNO is part of supplying that program. However, DiNovo said the TEFAP program business hasn’t provided the same benefits and margins that the previous program did.

Whatever is ahead, DiNovo said a return of COVID-19 or one of its variants and accompanying restrictions would be bad news for the foodservice sector. With little likelihood of the same kind of stimulus and subsidies received last year, it is essential to keep the economy open if at all possible, he said.