Specialty Produce

If you want to get ripped off come here. 1^st the bill is $ 110. Pointed it out it was rather high and then the total beomes $ 60. I will never go here again.

Awesome place to get the very best produce. I enjoy coming here the Vibe is great and employees are awesome. Check in and get a free seasonal fruit. You can’t beat it!

Such a great place to find quality produce and quality people. Half of the appeal of coming hear is how helpful the employees are. They’re always so knowledgable. They do not have prices on anything but do not fret, the cashiers are always more the forthcoming and helpful when it comes to checking prices on everything and letting you know if you have a high cost item in your basket

I am only shopping here for me for my fruits vegetables and eggs from now on. The prices are very competitive and the quality of the taste is just so much better than you can find at grocery stores. I moved here from France two years ago and have been so disappointed with the quality and taste of fruits and vegetables in the US so finding specialty produce is a real gem for me.

Great produce!!! Always fresh and customer service is amazing!!! Prices are reasonable because you’re buying straight from the distributor.

So far so good. I manage a group account and so far we have had nothing but awesome things to say. $ 20/​box of local produce is totally worth it ! I don’t understand why people here are complaining about not knowing what is in the box or that things aren’t in season. The whole point of eating locally and seasonally is that you support your local farmer by eating what’s in season. As such, they can rotate crops and keep their land going.
So far Ive gotten nothing but excellent service and high quality produce. $ 20 is such a steal for food this good. I’d easily be paying twice as much at a specialty market (don’t even get me started with whole foods)…
I do love to cook and have had a lot of fun finding new recipes. SP includes recipes with their deliveries which makes the farmers market box even more fun.
Even when my delivery had missing items, they were nothing but polite and fixed the problem immediately. I look forward to a long and happy relationship with specialty produce.
I really wish I knew more about the farms they buy from and I hope the farmers get paid enough to keep doing the awesome work they do.

I’m really bummed about the experience I just had.
I drove over an hour to come here. I was hoping to find some interesting fruit.
I wandered around, lost for about ten minutes. I asked for help. I was directed into the farmers market cooler.
I seriously saw nothing interesting. Nothing I couldn’t buy at albertsons. I asked if there was anything i should get. I was answered with — oranges are good.
I ended up giving up. I bought a $ 2 bunch of carrots. The boxes are only available thurs-​sun, so I couldn’t even do that. I was ready to spend a lot of money. I’m sad that I didn’t. I saw so many cool things on the website. All I saw here were nectarines and tomatoes. Wooop.
I guess I’ll go to whole foods or the fruit shop in clairemont.

Woah I love this place.
They have a lot of high quality and hard to find produce. I just bought some chervil and gooseberries.
Just beware that you have no idea what the price is until they ring up your order (although their mobile ap might help with this?) Since you are buying directly from the distributor, the prices are usually very good… cheaper than going to whole foods or the farmer’s market. However, some items are prepared as garnishes, etc. for chefs and carry a higher price tag. You don’t have to worry too much because the people at the register let you know if an item is expensive, and are very friendly and helpful.
While this isn’t your everyday shopping experience since it is an active warehouse and you have to walk into refrigerated areas, I love coming here when I plan to cook something special.

hello trying to establish business with them go bunch of paper work finally all done. Sales representative call to take order I told that we don’t need at the moment after two weeks we call back to place order they are telling us that they don’t have last page. Another thing why all this hassle when you gone pay cash at delivery time. sorry but to much crap

The produce here is FRESH… the variety of products is mind blowing. The same, high quality, ingredients that restaurants use locally are found here. Eating out is great, but a night at home exploring a new ingredient is just as fun. You can buy in bulk here or just grab fruit for a few days at a time like I do.

This is a case of having tried REALLY HARD to like and support a local busimess that — in theory — is all about making fresh in– season produce accessible to everyone. However, the hipster holier-​than-​thou attitudes and outrageous prices (how about 8 bucks for a pineapple? Or 17 bucks for a watermelon? Because «we are about quality here, not like the local supermarket» or «it is not in season». Really!!! Grown im Mexico and doesn’t happen to be in season? I can buy that same pineapple for ¹⁄₃ the price at a local supermarket and get the same quality– in or out of season. Ay si. Muchas gracias.
I enjoy quality as much as the next person, but refuse to pay over $ 100 for a small bag of «out of season» yet «high quality» fruit because I care more about appearing hip and part of some insider «specialty» produce group than I do about having common sense and recognizing true value.
Maybe someday they will deign to post prices on their items, so mere mortals and commoners («non-​specialty») people can dare to risk shopping there. Til then.,
(P.S. The two guys ahead of me in line were shell-​shocked at their $ 127 and change total for three little «specialty» gourmet items and paid up with little frozem grins on their faces. Whoaaaa.)

I really wanted to love this place but honestly don’t enjoy going here.
If you are a local business having produce delivered then this place is probably amazing and provides a great service.
If instead you are a regular guy that likes to pick up a few bags of produce for yourself then this place is super super expensive for organic items.
I typically only buy boxes of bananas here but they have recently gone way up in price which is discouraging. If you pick items from the organic section, it should be noted that they are often way more expensive than whole foods prices.
Also for regular people checking out, there are typically many staff hanging out around the check out counter that are not actually helping out the waiting people.
Great place if you are a business. Great place if you know exactly what you want and the price of it. Not good for picking up organic produce.

First of all this place is amazing. I felt I had to write a review because I love this place.
First, this is a WAREHOUSE and not your typical grocery store. If your looking for fresh locally grown, unique ingredients, and organic selection of fruits and vegetables this is your spot. You won’t find a starbucks here so bring your own coffee if you like a latte while you shop.
Yes the first time it’s difficult to find where to enter the warehouse, but if you just check out this Unilocal page you can see a photo of where you need to enter.
The staff is always so friendly and helpful and you can ask them to point you in the direction of any item your looking for or they will show you exactly what you need. I had a guy tell me they were out of a product on the shelves, but they just got a shipment in and he ran to get me what I needed. Amazing customer service. There are no set prices on anything because they change depending on the shipment and their supplier. If anything drastically jumps in price that week they let you know and you can always put something back. They also provide you with an itemized receipt that you can look over and if anything you think you can get cheaper somewhere else you just say no thanks and they take it off the bill and they put it back for you.
Take time to really explore and have fun with the shopping experience! I find new items every week in my grocery haul and usually get great deals… even if I don’t some things I can get here I can’t get elsewhere. Enjoy!

I really liked this place! Don’t be deterred by how hard it is to get in. You have to walk to the back by the loading dock, go ALL THE WAY against the fence right by the railroad tracks and take that into the building. When you think you can’t go further, GO FURTHER to the fence. Took us a min and thinking some old ladies we asked were messing with us to realize the walk way is WAAAYYYY out of sight! Once you get in it’s basic warehouse setting and they need you to sign a waiver if it’s your first time (nothing major) and put some gloves on before you continue. We were here to get a sugar pumpkin to make pumpkin pie out of and then also got the Unilocal check in fruit which was some kind of nectarine and it was awesome! This place has no frills but, ALL the beautiful produce you need for a good price! I’ll be back!

Specialty Produce is a pretty interesting place. I walked all around the building and the entrance was the last place that I looked. If you are facing the building from the street there is a driveway on the right side, follow that past the loading dock and go behind the building. Enter through the door on the left and follow the paint on the ground to the cashier. You will need to sign in and the first time you visit you actually have to sign a waiver since this is a working warehouse.
Once checked in, grab some gloves and bags. You can wander through the coolers and dry storage and open any box to get what you need.
They have a large variety of «specialty produce» They have a large variety of micro greens and flowers as well as a large organic/​local produce cooler. (It can get cold so dress warm!)
I also picked up some dried hibiscus flowers for making jamaica and it came out delicious. I bought a bunch of stuff and the total was surprisingly low. Other Unilocalers have said that they found the price high, I can see how this would happen because some of the specialty items such as micro greens can be quite pricey.
Check this place out if you are looking for somthing that you can’t find in the grocery store.

Neat place! I was able to get the things that I’d get a a farmer’s market (like produce and raw fermented kraut) as well as some other normal shopping items for a great price! The staff was very friendly and explained everything to me since it was my first time and it’s not a typical store. You get a free piece of fruit with a Unilocal check-​in! yay! and they don’t display prices, but they tell you the price of everything before you buy it so that you don’t accidentally get something out of your price range. So nice to be able to go during normal business hours 5 days a week instead of finding the local farmer’s market near me on a day that works for me!

Walking in for the first time is overwhelming. Fork lifts, men running around with boxes, semi trucks backing in… it’s a storm. Ask the nice girls at the counter for some newbie help and they will give you the run down on the procedures. This is by far the best place to shop for anything grown… except for weed, I don’t think they have that here. BUT, they have the freshest, largest and cheapest vegetables around. They distribute to all of the top notch restaurants that your frequent, that I can promise.
If you don’t see something you’re looking for don’t be afraid to ask, they will be more than willing to help you. Some newbie advice…
–Don’t wear sandals, it’s wet and sometimes icy in the back
–Might want a sweatshirt if you get cold easy.
–They carry items in a freezer that you can ask for. I don’t know everything they have back there but I do know that they have restaurant style seaweed salad in bulk!
–They have an fridge full of organic vegetables.

Love coming here. The staff is quite knowledgeable and friendly. The produce selection and quality is far and above the best I have ever seen. They have literally everything you could need, including bread, eggs, milk and specialty jams.

In spite of the warehouse atmosphere of this place, I enjoy hitting it up. Yeah, it’s a warehouse — you have to sign a waiver the first time you go in, dodge guys loading trucks and walk around an odd corner or two to find the entrance. Still, I can find items here that I can’t find elsewhere, with purple potatoes being the latest haul.
You don’t know what the prices are until you get to the register as you’re usually pulling items out of the boxes they were delivered in, but the workers are friendly and helpful and will assist you with any questions. Also, if you’re paying with cash, they can’t make change, so bring ones and change, not just 20’s. Considering the variety and the freshness of the goods, it’s well worth the minor inconveniences.
Oh, and if you live in the neighborhood, let them know. It may save you money. Another hint — the customer entrance is NOT by the huge door on Noell St, it’s on the opposite (NW) side of the building.

Not just for business owners and local Chefs, it’s open to the public people: Get your produce here! (And so much more) You do have to sign a waiver to shop there as it is a operational warehouse: Forklifts and more-​leave the toddlers at home maybe?
I was tagging along with the wonderful Chef Sela as she shopped for a client: While she was on a particular mission for micro greens and watermelon radishes… I was just having a grand time poking my way through piles of perfect and fresh possibilities. I ended up with some rhubarb, beautiful mini heirloom tomato, fresh strawberries, freshly made mini tortillas and much more.
I almost clapped my hands in excitement of the truffle oil options alone: Not to mention the eatable flowers, giant bags of organic carrots and huge range of drygoods.
The staff was a shining star in the situation: It was my first time there and they coached me through the layout and pointed out things I might need. They provided insight and were super helpful throughout the warehouse as well. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be a Farmer’s Market Box buyer and regular customer.