Handling Guide

We know how important quality is to you and take great care when handling all of the products in our facilities. To continue the same great care once the products reach your establishment, please follow the guidelines we have provided below.

Receiving & Inspecting

Once the delivery reaches you, be sure to examine the quantities, quality, freshness and specifics of all produce in your order. We take great care in packaging your orders, however, mistakes do happen. Crosscheck with your invoice to be sure you received what you ordered.

We urge you to have a general knowledge of the products you order. This will allow you to check for freshness and quality of those products. As a general rule, fresh produce should be bright, uniform color (regardless of degree of ripeness), and have firm skin. You should be aware of rot, blemishes, shiny skin, or crisp leaves, which are indicators of unhealthy produce.

Handling & Storing

Keep handling to a minimum. Produce is very susceptible to bruising and can be easily damaged by dropping or excessive movement.

Exposure of immoderate temperatures will also drastically alter the quality of produce. Therefore, it is urgent that you immediately store your produce in the ideal conditions after receipt and inspection. Along with keeping produce in the correct storing conditions, it is wise to date each produce container. This will limit the amount of spoilage due to improper utilization of ripe produce.

Ethylene

Ethylene, also known as 'death' or 'ripening gas' is the natural gas produced by some fruits, such as apples and bananas when ripening. It can be used to speed up the ripening process of certain fruits. However, produce which is sensitive to ethylene, will spoil when exposed and should be stored separately from those which produce high amounts of the gas. A good rule of thumb is to store vegetables and leafy items separately from fruit. Diseased and bruised produce generate even higher levels of ethylene and should be removed from healthy produce.

Storing Guide

	Ideal temperature is 50° F or below
	Ideal temperature is 50° F or above
	Keep moist
	Keep well-ventilated
D	Keep dry
X	Produce large quantities of ethylene
O	Sensitive to ethylene

Item	Ideal Temp
Apples	32-35° F		D	X
Apricots	32-35		D	X
Artichokes	32-35
Asparagus	32-35			O
Avocados (ripe)	40-50			X
Avocados (unripened)	65-70			X
Bananas (to ripen)	65-70			X
Bananas (to store)	55-60			X
Beans (Lima)	32-35		D
Beans (Snap)	32-35
Beets	32-35		D
Blackberries	32-35		D
Blueberries	33-35		D
Broccoli	32-35			O
Brussels Sprouts	32-35		D
Cabbage	32-35			O
Cantaloupe	40-50		D	X
Carrots	32-35			O
Cauliflower	32-35		D	O
Celery	32-35		D	O
Cherries	32-35		D
Coconuts	32-35		D
Corn	32-35
Cranberries	40-50		D
Cucumbers	40-50		D	O
Dates	32-35
Eggplant	32-35		D	O
Endive	32-35
Escarole	32-35
Garlic	65-70		D
Grapefruit (AZ/CA)	58-60			O
Grapefruit (TX/FL)	50			O
Grapes	32-35
Greens (Collard, Kale)	32-35
Honeydew				X
Kiwi fruit (ripe)	32-35			X
Leeks	32-35
Lemons	40-50			O
Lettuce	32-35			O
Limes	45-40			O
Mandarins	45-48
Mangoes (to ripen)	70-75			X
Mangoes (to store)	55			X
Melons (ripe)	40-50			X
Melons (unripened)	60-65			X
Mushrooms	32-35
Nectarines (ripe)	32-35			X
Nuts	32-40
Okra	40-50
Onions (Bulb)	65-70
Onions (Green)	32-35
Oranges (FL)	32-34
Oranges (CA)	40-44
Papayas (ripe)	45-55			X
Peaches (ripe)	32-35			X
Peaches (unripened)	65-70			X
Pears (ripe)	32-35			X
Pears (Green)	32-35			X
Pears (Snow)	32-35			X
Pears (unripened)	60-70			X
Peppers	40-50		D	O
Pineapple (ripe)	40-50
Pineapple (unripened)	60-70
Plums/Prunes	32-35			X
Potatoes	65-75			O
Pumpkins	55-60
Radishes	32-35
Raspberries	32-35
Rhubarb	32-35
Romaine	32-35
Rutabagas	35-40
Spinach	32-35			O
Sprouts	35-40
Squash (Summer)	40-50		D	O
Squash (Winter)	55-60
Strawberries	32
Sweet potatoes	55-60			O
Tomatoes (unripened)	60-70			X
Turnips	32-35
Watermelon	32-35			O