For over 90 years, V. Marchese has been the leading Midwest wholesaler offering its products in the greater Chicago area.
Courtesy of V. Marchese
For over 90 years, V. Marchese has been serving customers proudly in a fashion that puts the customer first in all aspects of the produce, dairy and spices supply chain by offering quality products, operational efficiency, safety, and an overall culture of dedication to make its customers successful.
Recently, the leading Midwest wholesaler has been offering its products in the greater Chicago area in a most unique and exceptional way.
A key attribute V. Marchese nurtured over the years is innovation in food manufacturing and the food supply chain. That was proven out just recently when V. Marchese was getting feedback from customers about the need for prepackaged, preprepared food products that would make it easy for groceries, convenience stores, hospitality groups and others to offer and sell produce-based dishes quickly to patrons.
The goal was to avoid having to prep basic produce-based food offerings on-site and deliver them in custom orders ready to sell to customers immediately, creating efficiency through the reduction of prep time and increasing safety by eliminating potentially harmful food prep tasks by their employees. The brand also had to offer the same high quality and customer service V. Marchese was known for along with the ability to customize orders to fit any quantity or delivery requirement.
That’s when V. Marchese introduced Cut Fresh, a new premium brand of prepackaged and customizable produce dishes.
Cut Fresh pushes the boundaries of today’s food manufacturing world when it comes to efficient, innovative prepackaged produce that can be customized for each and every customer’s needs. Grocery stores, schools offering meals, convenient stores, hospitality venues and restaurants can offer quality food items with little or no prep safely and efficiently at customizable quantities and specifications.
Mike Buelow, quality assurance, food safety and sanitation manager for Cut Fresh, is responsible for ensuring the highest quality Cut Fresh products that meet industry-standard safety requirements are delivered to customers each and every day.
Courtesy of V. Marchese
“We cut fresh fruits and vegetables to any customer specification that they want,” said Mike Buelow, quality assurance, food safety and sanitation manager for Cut Fresh. “For example, we can cut to various sizes, such as diced onions to ¼ inch or a bigger size in any quantity from a handful to a number of cartons. Everything we cut fresh today is packaged and delivered the next day the way the customer wants it.
“Cut Fresh offers our customers, big and small, a range of items we can precut for them,” Buelow said. “For example, we have a variety of different lettuce blends we can sell a restaurant precut for their salad bar. The customer just needs to tell us what they want cut, how they want it cut, and in what quantities. Regardless, we will get it done in a very custom fashion to their liking.”
Quality and safety are hallmarks of the Cut Fresh brand. According to Buelow, Cut Fresh has in place industry-standard best practices to ensure quality.
“We inspect every product prior to processing fruits and vegetables,” he said. “All of our products meet or exceed USDA Standards and the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) standards.”
Every year Cut Fresh and V. Marchese go through a rigorous food safety audit through Azzule Auditing Systems using the Primus GFS standards. Cut Fresh has exceeded the standards of Primus with two past audit scores of 99% in 2023 and 100% in 2024. In 2024, both V. Marchese and Cut Fresh received perfect scores, unheard of in the industry.
For food retailers, there are many options for the procurement of fruits and vegetables, and it is hard to differentiate which supplier is better. But through innovation, V. Marchese has created a brand in its own likeness, with the operational efficiency, safety, and customization that direct-to-consumer food retailers, looking for very precise needs to be met, want to capture more business.
“Sure we like to think of ourselves as innovators in the food supply chain,” Buelow said. “Really the innovative aspect of Cut Fresh is just coming up with ways to deliver preprepared, prepackaged quality produce to the exact specifications that will allow customers to better serve their consumers. Cut Fresh is in a position to do that with the nearly 100 years of expertise and business operations experience V. Marchese has to offer, coupled with innovative thinking focused on meeting the extremely specific needs of customers. It is really that simple.”
Food manufacturer V. Marchese introduced Cut Fresh, a new premium brand of prepackaged and customizable produce dishes.
Courtesy of V. Marchese
V. Marchese introduced Cut Fresh, a new premium brand of prepackaged and customizable produce dishes that offered a turnkey solution to customers. Grocery stores, schools offering meals, convenient stores, hospitality venues and restaurants can offer quality food items with little or no prep safely and efficiently at customizable quantities and specifications.
Courtesy of V. Marchese
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