Just two generations ago the first Siger family member to get into the produce business (Alan's Grandfather) pushed his fresh fruits and vegetables to Pittsburgh's Hill District each day with a cart.

Transportation of produce has come a long way.

Today 'The Freshness Professionals' fleet of more than 40-trucks makes daily runs to nearby neighborhoods, and over the road.

"Anywhere within about 150 miles is our normal range," says Operations Manager Tom Sisko. "But we also go alot further. We go to the East Coast, we will go to New York City, and sometimes down into Virginia."

On a daily basis you are sure to see the big CP apple logo of Consumers Produce in Altoona, Youngstown, Cleveland, Erie, Punxsutawncy, Dubois, Fairmont, and Morgantown.

We take great pride at Consumers Produce in maintaining the cold chain for all the produce we sell and our fully refrigerated trucks continue that guarantee right to our customer's door. Maintaining the cold chain makes the product last longer and gives our customers the best return on their dollar.

Our first trucks roll from our Strip District home around nine o'clock each night and the distribution process won't slow down until around one o'clock the next afternoon.

Orders come in by phone or fax (and soon the web) and are immediately assigned to a Freshness Professional to select the best product and have it ready for loading. Dispatchers review the orders and assign them to trucks that will get the produce there in the most direct manner. Because it's a daily review and assignment process "we have a special niche in the market," Sisko says. "We offer just in time delivery. Which means if we get an order today it is going out as soon as we can get the truck loaded. One night Ron Casertano called and he said 'we gotta get 15-hundred Romas down to Philadelphia.' We immediately loaded it up and took it down."

Delivery business is on the rise as more customers choose to leave the driving to our professionals. Sisko says often the decision is economic driven, "Regulations, red tape, and expense have led a growing number of customers to tell 'we're better off with you delivering it than for us to handle it.' In fact we've seen more than a 40-percent increase in deliveries over the last few years."

And the Consumers Produce trucks and professional Teamsters behind the wheel have proved reliable. Sisko says, "We've had some bad weather, after all this is Pennsylvania, but we always run. We always get there." And we arrive with drivers who give our customers the kind of care and understanding they've come to expect from The Freshness Professionals.