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P r o d u c e S h o w D a i l y S a t u r d a y, O c t o b e r 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 7 0 originally founded by Anthony Totta in February of 1998. In the early years, Market Fresh offered consulting services, brokered products and even opened a regional distribution facility in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2005, Phipps invested as Co- owner of Market Fresh. His passion for produce started in his childhood where he helped his grandfather run a commercial gardening operation in southwest Missouri. Phipps spent the next 28 years working in produce for companies that include, but are not limited to, Kroger/Dillon's, J-M Farms, Nationfresh and C.H. Robinson Worldwide. Phipps brought an understanding of sales and marketing to the company that stimulated rapid growth. After establish- ing a nationally recognized brand across the country in retail and foodservice alike, Market Fresh acquired its first tomato repacking facility in 2013. The facility's location in Tampa, Florida was an essential step in vertical integration that gave the company a footprint and logistical advantage in the Florida grow- ing region. Market Fresh Produce (Cont'd. from p. 1) In the next year, Market Fresh acquired Harlin Fruit Company in Monett, Missouri and spent the end of 2014 renovating the campus into a state- of-the-art repacking and distribution facility. Market Fresh is able to service the central region of the United States for product sourced throughout North America, including Mexico, California, Florida and Canada. In 2015, Market Fresh made its third acquisition in as many years when purchasing another central Florida produce distributor. Market Fresh has spent the last year continuing its efforts in pursuing a "field to fork" growth plan. The company's core product offerings are sweet pota- toes, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, peppers and avocados. Market Fresh has devel- oped a wide-ranging network of supply partners throughout the United States with whom it has worked closely to design and support the company's mar- keting programs. Market Fresh looks for- ward to many more years of working hard to build a brand that stands for high quality produce at a competitive cost. For more information, go to www.market freshproduce.net or call 866.885.7751. accommodate warehouse owners and tenants in a new state-of-the-art facility in San Antonio, Texas. The first finished phase of the new San Antonio Wholesale Produce Market consists of two front buildings of 30 warehouses units each, out of a total of 180 warehouses units that will be built in at least three phases. The San Antonio Wholesale Produce Market incorporates the best of its experience in functionality and modern design. In addition to vast gen- eral parking for visitors and trucks and extra-wide streets for easy truck maneuvering, each warehouse has plenty of vehicle parking in front. The project operates as a gated condomini- um with common area maintenance and 24-hour security and video sur- veillance. All warehouse units are 3,100 square feet with an additional 900 square foot mezzanine for an office, including insulated panels and roof, as well as brand new refrigeration equip- ment. Each cold room can hold up to 156 pallets, or about seven truckloads. The temperature in the loading areas is also controlled to ensure cold chain continuity. Each warehouse features a 450 square foot covered dock, access for lighter loads in front and three insu- lated dock-high doors in the back. Its Abasto Properties (Cont'd. from p. 1) interior design will facilitate obtaining the most important warehouse certifica- tions in the industry. The company has seen a great response from companies that are look- ing to serve the markets of San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Dallas. This loca- tion is ideal for consolidation and distri- bution of north bound and south bound cargo crossing the borders of Mexico and Canada. Abasto Properties and its affiliates have successfully built more than two million square feet of warehouse space and sold over 800 warehouses and industrial lots in Mexico and the United States. Abasto Properties has been pres- ent in South Texas since 1994, when it opened the McAllen Produce Terminal Market in McAllen, Texas. The McAllen Produce Terminal Market was the first of its kind on the southern bor- der, consisting of 210 units totaling 452,000 square feet of warehouse space. In 2008, the company opened the Warehouse Kingdom also in McAllen, Texas, a 306,000 square foot multi-use industrial property consisting of 62 warehouse units. The company contin- ues operating both projects with occu- pancy rates above 95 percent over the last three years. For more information, visit booth #2715, go to www.sawpm.com/en or contact Luz Moreno at lmoreno@sawpm.com. product, the C3 Safety Rope, is a cost- effective way to address the risks of retrieving grocery carts. "Whenever I describe our patented C3 Safety Rope, I hear the same thing: 'You should appear on Shark Tank!'" says Kassie Grimes, C3's Account Manager. Instead of seeking venture cap- ital and acquiring debt for their start-up, Kassie Grimes and her husband Justin Grimes, Principal at C3, repurposed Kassie's parents' garage into their work- shop to keep expenses low. "That com- mon story of start-ups launching from garages cracks me up – we didn't even have our own garage at the time," Justin recalls. They've come a long way since those early days, most notably in the company's production, design and sourc- ing capabilities. Establishing northeast Minneapolis as headquarters has been a huge asset from a manufacturing and design perspective. "You can get any- thing made in our hometown," says Kassie. The couple describes the "aha" moment people experience when using the C3 Safety Rope for the first time. "It simply makes difficult, labor-intensive shopping cart retrieval easier, safer, even faster," Justin says. Growth has been slow and steady, but the C3 Safety Rope has become standard practice among C3 (Cont'd. from p. 1) many of the world's leading grocers and retailers. "That's huge for us," says Justin. The safety product's benefits attract strong positive reactions, according to Kassie. "My favorite testi- monials come from cart attendants who share how glad they are it exists," she says. "And several concerned parents have even purchased the C3 Safety Rope for their kids whose first job is collecting carts." "I love that feedback," adds Justin. "Cart retrieval isn't usually a top priority for most companies, but it's an integral part of customer service. Getting carts back to the store is physically demand- ing, and accidents and injuries are fre- quent. The C3 Safety Rope is a cost- effective way to address these risks." Kassie and Justin plan to preserve the family culture with which they've established and grown C3 LLC. "I love that my husband and I work together, says Kassie. "And our employees are truly an extended family." Justin agrees: "Our business is run in a manufacturing environment," he says. "We care deeply about protecting and empowering our employees. We know workplace safety and productivity is top priority." Visit C3LLC.com to place an order or write to info@C3LLC.com for more information.