1891

Walnut Street, Des Moines, Ia 1892

Guisseppi Loffredo and family immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis Island in 1891

In 1892, Giuseppe established Loffredo Fruit and Tobacco Company at 4th & Court Ave downtown Des Moines

  • Original gardens located near old Holiday Inn on Fleur (near Gray’s Lake)
  • Purpose was to service Hotels, Restaurants and Soldiers
  • Used horses to cultivate land and also to deliver throughout Des Moines
  • Grew many different green vegetable items and tomatoes

In 1918, moved operations to 9th & Porter Ave in Des Moines

  • Needed larger warehouse and space for growing crops
  • Now had 300 acres
  • This was around the time Tony (son) took over the business
  • Tony known to introduce broccoli to Des Moines
  • Slowly phased out growing operation as interstates were developed and transportation from California took shape. This allowed the company to offer new items not familiar with the area
  • Tony retired in 1960 and left the business to his son Gene L. Loffredo
  • 1965 began purchasing 100% of product sold

1970 – We began our cutting/processing department

  • Two employees started peeling potatoes and shredding fresh lettuce in the back of our warehouse

In 1984, moved operations to airport location on McKinley & SW 34th

  • Business started transitioning to 4th generation ownership
    • Gene, John, Mike, Jim, Larry
  • The warehouse grew to 30,000 SF
  • Moved to our current location on 63rd Street in 1997 - 85,000 SF facility
  • Began building regional warehousing and distribution system
    • Quad Cities - 1997
    • Omaha - 1999
    • Kansas City - 2000
    • Madison - 2005
  • 1996 Gene Loffredo Sr. – Transitions into 4th generation management
  • 1999 – Became Pro*Act Member - Pro*Act is a National Network of local, independent distributors specializing in fresh produce and specialty food products.

In 2010, fifth generation began working in the business full time.

  • The company is currently going through a transition period to move the business from the fourth to the fifth generation
  • Established Produce Innovations in 2014 to embrace growth in fresh-cut segment
  • Square miles serviced (over 175,000 square miles)
  • Active accounts (over 2,500 active accounts)
  • Cases shipped annually (over 6 million annually)
  • Created Hwy 28 Farms label
  • Launched Season Well label – 2017
  • Omaha Purveyor of the Year