The holiday season is upon us once again!

Although the stone fruit has come to an end for the year, we do have seasonal fruit available. We are now carrying Pomegranates, Quince, Clementines and we are able to pre-order Concord Grapes and Prune Plums. We have also started stocking fresh Cranberries. Most of our local products have come to an end but we look forward to being able to stock them again next year.

Our hours of operation and delivery days change due to the holidays. So please watch your invoices for an changes. We will also send out flyer's once the schedule is finalized. Please plan accordingly and place your orders before the cut off times.

The Sirna family and team wish you a safe and happy holiday!

Company Picnic and Sampling

September was a busy month for us. The Sirna's hosted an amazing company picnic for the employees and the families. We went to the Indians game September 21st when the Indians beat the Astros 4-1. Here is a picture of Tom Sirna, Patty Sirna and Joe Sirna enjoying the festivities.

Guido Margida one of our Sales Reps offered samples at Kent State University's Taste of Kent on September 18th. Some of the samples that he took along were Ohio Local Apples, Dragon Fruit, Red Bananas, Yellow Watermelon and Cactus Pears. This event gave students the opportunity to sample from the different locations around campus.

Jimmy Battaglia and Dean Marsico two of our other Sales Reps were at California University of Pennsylvania's health fair. They offered Samples of Local PA Apples, Local Ohio Apple Cider and Mackenzie Creamery's Sweet Fire Goat Cheese. This event offered students a chance to have health screening such as blood glucose, blood pressure and Be the Match Donor Registry.

Sirna's New Look

Well we recently re-designed our logo and truck decals. They have now been put on the trucks and you should have seen them out on the road. Let us know what you think.

This is our new logos:

And here is a peek at the new truck decals:

 

We also have a lot of our local products back and are very pleased to be able to offer them again this year.

•                   24 ct Cucumbers 
•                   Corn
•                   Zucchini 
•                   Yellow Squash 
•                   Tomatoes
•                    Radishes
•                    Escarole 
•                    Endive

These products are available now and more should be on the way. Please check with your order processor to see if any new products have arrived. Stone fruit is also available for a little while longer.

Fourth Generation to Join Our team!

Sirna & Sons has welcomed the fourth generation to the family business. Anthony Sirna, the son of Company President Tom Sirna, is currently working as a sales representative for the West Side of Cleveland, Columbus, and surrounding areas. Anthony graduated from OSU in 2012 with a business degree and an internship with Freshway Foods. We are very excited to watch him grow and see what plans he has for the future.

Our New Computer System

March and April have been amazing months. The transition to the new computer system has gone well and we are learning more each day! All of us are getting used to the repacks. Thank you for all of your patience through the learning period. Online ordering is back up and running. Hopefully this will help clarify the repacks. If your using the online ordering please remember the cut off time is 8 PM. Anything placed after that time will be dated for your next delivery date. Some orders are going unnoticed and not getting sent out this is due to the fact that they were placed after the cut off time. We no longer see every order as they are placed so it is hard to catch everyone that comes through. We are working to make this a little easier for everyone.

We have recently started carrying Green City Growers products including Green Leaf, Artisan Mix, Red Artisan Mix, Butter Leaf Lettuce Bulk and Basil.

All of our local products will start coming back in soon. We look forward to being able to carry these for another season.

We are also proud of our new company logo on our trucks. Over the coming months all our trucks will get this new look!

What to expect in the coming months

Wow! 2013 has come and is already starting to fly by and February is already half over. Where has the time gone?  We have started training for our new computer system. It is a lot to learn at first and a lot of information for everyone to take in. there is also going to be some changes that our customers should be aware of. The way that our items were split may be different. Instead of being able to get 1 piece of a product you may now only be able to get that product in a 3 or 6 count. Instead of getting something by the single pound you may now only be able to get it in 5 pound increments. Products may be packaged a little differently and the reason for all this is that the amount of times that the produce will be handled is going to be less. We will no longer pickup products from a previous delivery with out someone calling in and asking for a pickup. We are working to make this transition as easy for you and ourselves as we can. Your order processors are already implementing new product splits. We hope that you do not see this as an inconvenience but as an opportunity for us to grow! Thank you for your cooperation in advanced. We look forward to making this change and the chance to continue serving all you produce needs.

2012 at a Glance

As 2012 winds to an end we look back and see what we have accomplished this year. Just let me say it has been an amazing year. We would like to thank our current customers, new customers, and our employees without you this would not have been possible.

Our local produce is done for the season but with your support we were able to sell 1.1 million dollars. Thank you for buying local while we had the chance and supporting our local farms. A big thank you to all of our local farms such as:

§                     Holthouse farms

§                     Zeller’s Farm

§                     Walcher’s Farm

§                     KJ Greens

§                     Bauman Orchards

§                     Dawson’s Orchard

§                     Great Lakes Growers

§                     Greenline.

We look forward to working with them again in 2013. With their help we will continue to bring you the freshest produce possible.

We were able to attend and tape a few chef’s demonstrations this year. Thank you for allowing us to video tape these and put them on our website. If you go to our website you will see videos from Chef James from St. Edward’s and Chef Mark from The Culinary Arts Center.

Thank you for allowing us to take part in the events and food shows this year. A few that we attended are:

§                     Slippery Rock University

§                     University of Akron Robertson Hall

§                     Lake Erie College Oktoberfest

§                     Taste of Kent State University

§                     Greater Cleveland Managers Association

§                     Brio/Bravo Vendors Show

Another great thing that happened this year is that we are now carrying Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese out of Hiram, Ohio. We have been stocking the 2# container of Plain but we are able to order any of the many flavors that they offer.

Last but not least, we received the Avendra Award for “A Decade of Service” and an ACF Akron & Canton Cooks & Chefs Association Silver Sponsor Award. We would not have been able to accomplish all this without our outstanding customers and employees. Thank you for the time and dedication to our company. We look forward to working with you all and seeing what we can accomplish in 2013.

Happy New Years!