Working For Chicago: Restaurant Supplier GFP Chicago Switches Gears To Home Delivery

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Farmers' markets aren't open, and a trip to the supermarket makes many feel uncomfortable right now, so a Chicago restaurant supplier is now bringing fresh fruits and vegetables right to your doorstep, after losing sleep thinking his business would go under.

Working for Chicago, CBS 2 Morning Insider Lauren Victory finds another company shifting gears for the better during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At 6:30 a.m., when most of us are either still asleep or just getting out of bed, the Chicago International Produce Market has been hopping for hours. Somehow, Wednesday was the slowest day of the week. George Fourkas would know. He's bought wholesale fruits and vegetables there for eight years for his produce company.

"Six days a week, I'm looking for what arrived today, this morning, or what arrived last night," he said.

Fourkas owns GFP Chicago, and normally shops for some of the city's fanciest restaurants; a wholesaler whose whole client list was basically shutdown by COVID-19.

"My business took a huge hit," he said.

Then he took a fresh look at an old idea.

"I would always have some extra stuff at the end of the day, and I would make these little boxes for friends and family, and we would always joke around, saying like, 'People would pay good money for these. We should sell these,' and then when all my restaurants got closed, I was like, 'Well, this is a great opportunity to try if the home delivery actually works,'" Fourkas said.

GFP Chicago marketing and operations manager Kevin Alsterda said their new customers have the option to buy small or large boxes of produce.

Fourkas tapped Alsterda, a grade school buddy, for help with home delivery online ordering.

The virus forced Alsterda to shift operations, too. Business at his custom apparel company, Upmerch, had also dried up. Colleges and universities make up a huge part of his client base.

"Since all the universities are shut down now, it was the perfect opportunity for me to team up with George and provide my skillset of, you know, selling stuff online and marketing," Alsterda said.

It's working. Rave reviews of their colorful boxes fill the GFP Chicago Facebook page, with fans starting to post their favorite recipes.

"We've actually had to change warehouses," Fourkas said. "We're in the process of finding a larger warehouse to be packing our boxes."

"It's been a crazy two months," Alsterda said.

GFP Chicago anticipates continuing home deliveries once restaurants reopen. The company makes next-day drop-offs as far as Wisconsin and Indiana.

CBS 2 is committing to Working For Chicago, connecting you every day with the information you or a loved one might need about the jobs market, and helping you remove roadblocks to getting back to work.

We'll keep uncovering information every day to help this community get back to work, until the job crisis passes. CBS 2 has several helpful items right here on our website, including a look at specific companies that are hiring, and information from the state about the best way to get through to file for unemployment benefits in the meantime.

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