Johnstown food distributor offers drive-thru grocery pick up

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — Local businesses are continuing to find new ways to keep their operations running during these unprecedented times.

Tony Sunseri Wholesale, a food distributor in Johnstown is known for their fresh produce. During the pandemic, they have started offering drive-thru grocery pick up. And the response is beyond what employees imagined.

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing businesses to find new ways to operate in the wave of social distancing and closures. Tony Sunseri Wholesale in Johnstown did just that.

“We do a lot of schools and restaurants and we definitely took a direct hit from this. So this has just been a nice way to kind of maneuver our business to try something else and to try and increase sales,” said Tony Sunseri’s vice president, Anthony Battaglia.

The locally owned food distributor is offering drive-thru grocery pick up for customers to receive fresh fruits and vegetables, without ever having to leave the safety of their car.

“We are doing all preorders and we are asking for prepayments so when the customers do come, we don’t want them getting out of their cars. We don’t want to have to worry about exchanging money we are throwing it in their trunk and they’re off their way,” said Battaglia.

Employees say the response from the community is overwhelming.

“We thought that it would be friends and family would get behind. We are a family food distributor we’ve been in the Johnstown area since 1942. But we thought that a lot of our usual customers would get on board but the majority of the customers are actually new customers to us. So it’s been really cool to see how Facebook can work and bring people together,” said Battaglia.

So much so, they had to stop taking orders during their first week because the demand was too great. The wholesale market had sold over 400 boxes of produce in just one week, all while social distancing.

“People they’re nervous about going to the grocery store and the fact that they can just stay in their cars and still get fresh fruits and vegetables it’s seems like they are really getting on board with that idea,” said Battaglia.

Tony Sunseri offers two distribution days, Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is a vegetable box and a fruit box, each one costing $30 with over 10 different types of items.

“It’s really a great value. Everything is fresh. It comes in the morning of. We pack it that day and it goes out the same day,” said Battaglia.

To order a produce box from Tony Sunseri Wholesale, contact them at 814-535-2593.

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