Family-owned specialty wholesalers are now marketing directly to consumers.

Editor’s Note: The ever-changing economic climate means some prices may have changed since this story was first published.

The year 2020 may be remembered on the island as the year dining-in became a way of life. Restaurants opened their portals for takeout, followed by purveyors selling directly to home cooks.

Family-owned specialty wholesalers turned their attention to consumers. That shift is a win-win all the way around, especially for home cooks.

Bush Brothers

Bush Brothers opened in 1925 on Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach as a grocery store. As supermarkets moved into the area, John W. “Buck” and Leonard J “Buddy” Bush decided to concentrate on the meat business.

There was a demand for specialty butchers who catered to the needs of the hotel, club and restaurant business in South Florida. Today, Bush Brothers is Palm Beach County’s only meat packing plant, employing 40 artisan butchers, packing specialists and drivers. The fourth and fifth generation of the family run the company.

Bush Brothers specialize in cut-to-order U.S. Department of Agriculture Prime and Choice beef (wet or dry aged), Wagyu beef, lamb, veal, pork, and Bell & Evans poultry.

“We have had to refocus our business,” said Douglas Bush. “We had to make it easy for customers to have restaurant-grade meats, cut-to-order in smaller packages. Ground beef is a big seller. Two-pound packages replaced the 10-pound size used by restaurants.”

Every item is cut to order. For example, ground beef, 85/15, is $4.90 per pound. Center cut New York strip steaks are $13.90 per pound, Creekstone Prime center cut New York strips are $19.30 per pound. Other specialty cuts include hanger steaks, ox tail, sirloin flap steak, steamship round and teres major, (a perfect cut for kabobs).

In addition, every cut of meat is vacuum-packed. The packaging keeps boneless cuts of meat fresh in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days; bone-in cuts and ground beef, seven to nine days. Bush advises that if you freeze a cut of meat, let it “slow thaw” for two days in the refrigerator before you cook it. This method breaks down ice crystals that may form and toughen the texture of meat.

Call 561-832-6666 or email orders@bush-brothers.com, to place your order for pick-up at the plant, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the next day at 1931 N. Dixie Highway.

Cod & Capers

Cod & Capers opened in 1984 and has been a leading supplier of fish and seafood to island hotels, restaurants and clubs in Palm Beach. Seven weeks ago, the day before the lockdown, there were 600 customers in the restaurant and retail store.

“Our entire platform is based on food safety,” said owner Steve Gyland. “We realized we had an obligation to our community being an essential service. We had to change the way we were doing business.”

They soon opened for business with “no contact” service. Each morning around 10 o’clock, Jessica Zabel, Gyland’s daughter, does a slow pan of the freshly stocked cases to post.

Customers drive into the parking lot and place their orders by phone with one of 12 order takers. Each order is individually filled and sent to a table in the parking lot for customer pick up. This system minimizes the risk of contamination.

There are no shortages of fish and seafood. Stone crab claws (until May 15), snapper, pompano, hog fish, swordfish, mahi, salmon, Maine lobster, frozen Florida lobster, African lobster tails and scallops shipped from New Bedford, Mass., twice weekly are available. In addition, packages of two of their famous crab cakes are $13.95, and ready-to-heat prepared meals with two sides such as potato-crusted snapper, Boston baked cod, lemon-pepper salmon and pan-fried snapper are available from $16.95 to $20.95.

Cod & Capers, 1201 U.S. Highway 1, 622-0994 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

JackScalisi.com

The Scalisi family has been in the produce business since 1926 and in Palm Beach County since 1979. Jack and Anthony Scalisi, the third generation of the family, opened their own specialty produce business in 1993 and built a state-of-the art warehouse in 2014.

With the hospitality industry in a freefall, they have turned their attention to retail customers. Jackscalisi.com is a user-friendly website created just for retail customers.

Home cooks have an advantage when buying restaurant quality produce directly from a wholesaler. The products are days fresher than what you find in grocery stores. At Scalisi, the turnover time from field to end user is from three to four days.

The company places orders two weeks ahead of time directly with growers and shippers. The produce is packed in refrigerated trucks and tracked from field to warehouse bay by computer. Food safety and meticulous record keeping has always been one of Scalisi’s top priorities.

The best sellers this week have been asparagus ($3.49 per pound), Hass avocados ($1.39), bananas ($.69 per pound) and local corn (5 for $2). Scalisi stocks over 400 products. In addition to produce, they sell milk, cream, Eggland’s Best eggs, Plugra and Land O Lakes butter, cheeses, condiments and dressings.

Each order is individually packed and delivered in a clean truck by a masked and gloved driver. There is a $75 minimum for free delivery six days a week from Tequesta to Sunny Isles. Palm Beach deliveries are on Wednesday and Saturday. Place orders online at jackscalisi.com or call 471-0848.

Old School Bakery

The ovens at William Himmelrich’s Old School Bakery are fired up seven days a week. The company is still delivering a full range of products to gourmet markets, gated communities, hospitals, sandwich shops and private clubs.

“We have a full range of products. The best-sellers in the retail shop are anything sweet: muffins, biscotti, rugelach and our original baguettes,” said Himmelrich.

“We have zero waste. Any extra products go to meals for first responders and the local food bank.

“Necessity is the mother of re-invention. I find this situation somewhat inspiring because most people are discovering their better selves,” he said.

The retail shop has artisan breads, crisps, focaccia, scones and dinner rolls.

The Old School Bakery is located at 45 N. Congress, Delray Beach and is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. It can be reached at 276-0013.