Word on the Street: 1st Quality offers fresh produce box in Fresno

Fresno-based 1st Quality Produce, one of the San Joaquin Valley’s leading wholesale providers of fresh fruits and vegetables, is reaching out directly to consumers with the launch of a new weekly service: Farm to Families.

The service is a first for the company, whose customers have traditionally been institutions and schools. As part of Farm to Families, customers can buy a 38-pound box of California-grown produce loaded with seasonal items. Recently, the box contained more than a dozen foods, including bok choy, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, pears, vine tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

Melissa Steward, director of marketing for 1st Quality Produce, said the company is a big believer in health and wellness and wanted to be able to provide consumers an opportunity for nutritious food.

To help increase consumer awareness, the company provides a small booklet with fun facts, recipes and a list of the box’s contents.

The box is $29.99 and is available on Friday at the company’s will-call office at 2445 S. Gearhart Ave. Fresno, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can order a box from Monday through Thursday. For more information, call (559) 442-1932.

“We hope to see families join together with excitement when opening their box and finding out what they will get to cook together that week,” Steward said.

Steward said the company is also working with local employers who want to give their employees the opportunity to buy the food boxes. Already, 1st Quality Produce has partnered with Clovis Community Medical Center and Custom Ag Formulators. Employees who want to participate have their boxes delivered to their workplace.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Word on the Street: 1st Quality offers fresh produce box in Fresno."