Dates: Tuesday, March 24th OR Thursday, March 26th

Location: 1929 Hancock St #150, San Diego, CA 92110

Cost: Free

ADA Accessible: Yes

Website: https://www.specialtyproduce.com

Parking: Parking can be difficult so we recommend carpooling if possible.  There are two small parking lots located along their building and street parking.  They also have an overflow parking lot along Noelle about a block from their entrance.  See the flyer below to locate this parking lot.

Special Instructions: We recommend guests bring a jacket and wear close-toed shoes as your experience will take you through a working warehouse with large walk-in refrigerators that can be between 38-42 degrees. There will be quite a bit of standing/walking, so you may want to bring your stools if you think you’ll need them. They’ve also asked me to please have all students register online at the following link before arriving: https://www.specialtyproduce.com/warehouse

This week we are visiting Specialty Produce, a family owned and operated food service and retail fresh produce supplier. They are one of San Diego’s largest food hubs, Specialty Produce provides a unique shopping experience for their guests. Our tour will introduce us to the company’s history, their fruit and vegetable museum, warehouse space, sub-brands, and include a tasting of locally grown fruits and vegetables. 

Special Instructions: We recommend guests bring a jacket and wear close-toed shoes as your experience will take you through a working warehouse with large walk-in refrigerators that can be between 38-42 degrees. There will be quite a bit of standing/walking, so you may want to bring your stools if you think you’ll need them. They’ve also asked me to please have all students register online at the following link before arriving: https://www.specialtyproduce.com/warehouse

Specialty Produce, despite being open to the general public, is not a normal store. It is a warehouse where restaurants buy their fruits and vegetables, and they carry a variety of items you won't find anywhere else. Their website is always up to date with what's in season and what's in stock, and you can even find the restaurants who purchase from them listed there. So if you enjoy a dish at a particular restaurant, you may just find that Specialty Produce is where they get their ingredients! They sell to San Diego favorites like George's on the Cove, Saffron Thai, Extraordinary Desserts, and Rubicon Deli. 

Specialty Produce is family owned and has been providing to local restaurants and the community for more than thirty years. They service restaurants 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing same-day delivery and just-in-time orders.  In addition to advance orders, it is not unusual for a chef or restaurant owner to call in need of a last-minute item.

 They are also an organic (CCOF - http://www.ccof.org/) & food safety (HACCP - https://www.foodsafety.gov/~lrd/haccp.html) certified facility. To ensure quality, they only buy products from trusted vendors.

 The 32,000 square-foot warehouse carries more than a thousand varieties of produce  year-round, including organic and hard-to-find items. More than 400 restaurants in San Diego County buy from Specialty Produce.

While the warehouse may not reflect the average shopper’s grocery list, it is open to the public. The lesser known or hard-to-find products are ideal for creating a dish that will impress guests on special occasions, the owner, Robert Harrington said. (Or just having fun experimenting in your kitchen!)

For individuals interested in using locally grown produce, the Farmers Market Bag program at Specialty Produce is a collaborative effort between area farmers and purveyors that exposes customers to a combination of local fruits and vegetables each week.

Customers pick up  the bags on Thursdays. Each bag feeds two people for a meal or two and costs $20; the contents would retail for $30 to $60 when purchased separately.

The selections change each week, depending on the produce available, and Specialty Produce has gained a loyal base of customers who enjoy supporting local farms while exploring new recipes. You can view what's been included in past bags here: https://blog.specialtyproduce.com/2026/03/18/farmers-market-box-march-19-2026/.  On the website, they list recipes that use each week's produce!

For example, last week's bag included carrots, eggplant, asian pears, mixed lettuce, pimento peppers, valencia oranges, and beefsteak tomatoes, and included recipes (posted on their website) that look absolutely delicious. (I will paste them at the bottom of this lesson in case any of you are interested in trying them. Additionally, customers can order items from other local companies to complement their Farmers Market Bag; the products include fish and poultry, popcorn, chocolate, cupcakes, oils and vinegars, and cheeses. 

A core component of Specialty Produce is product knowledge. Each of the company’s products is cataloged and explained in detail. Accessible from both the website and mobile application are pictures and information about the product’s flavor, availability, history and geography. Just visiting the warehouse is a great way to get introduced to new products.

Building a large database to describe each product, including recipes, is the brainpower behind the company, Harrington said. You can find delicious recipes for most of their products on their website by clicking on the product list on the left-hand side. 

Just try a bite! Sometimes it’s difficult to try new foods when we know what we like and we’re used to certain things. But trying new foods can be extremely beneficial. Hopefully this week encourages you to try something new and different. Here are some reasons it’s a good idea: 

♦Expanding Nutritional Variety – This is a biggie for everyone because every time you expand the foods you eat, you expand the positive nutrition your body gets. When the new food is a fruit, vegetable or grain, you are getting the benefits of natural phytochemicals from the plants that can improve your immune system along with adding important nutrition.

♦Setting a Good Example – For parents and grandparents, this is seriously a top benefit. Parents and grandparents who try new foods and have fun doing it will raise kids who try new foods and have fun doing it. Kids, after all, deserve to experience all imaginable flavors so that they will grow up to be mindful eaters who appreciate everything on their plate.

♦Cooking More – The kitchen can become your favorite room of the house when you get interested in trying new foods and cooking them. Research shows that eating at home means eating better quality nutrition. Period. If you see a new food at the grocery store or farmer’s market (or Specialty Produce!), be sure to check out how to cook it and then give it a go. 

♦Discovering Flavors – We all enjoy different flavors and textures in food so trying new foods is an edible discovery. Radishes are super crunchy and spicy. Parsnips are tender and sweet when you roast them. Greek style yogurt is thick and creamy and wild rice is tender-crunchy and nutty. Life is definitely more fun with more flavors.

We often think about food in terms of energy and calories in vs. calories out, but it also has a huge effect on our mood, memory, and cognitive processing ability. Think about the brain fog that sometimes comes after lunch... Does it sometimes occur after eating certain foods?

I took a look at the Specialty Produce website to see what was in stock right now so you'll have an idea of some of the things to expect. What looks good to you?

Description/Taste

Muscat grapes vary in size and shape, depending on the specific variety, but are typically small to medium types with tapered, conical to cylindrical bunches. Each grape has a round to oval shape and features smooth, taut, and firm skin. Muscat grapes appear in shades of green, green-white, pale pink, amber, dark red, purple, and black. Most grapes categorized as green or white types will have lighter skin tones, occasionally blushed with pink patches. Underneath the surface, the translucent flesh is plump, soft, and aqueous. Muscat grapes are seeded or seedless, varying with the type, and the skin's firmness creates a crisp, contrasting consistency with the softness of the flesh. Muscat grapes are known for their perfumed, musky aroma filled with floral, honey, and fruity notes. The grapes are edible raw or cooked once ripe and have a sweet, sugary, and rich flavor with fruity nuances reminiscent of oranges, mangoes, peaches, and apricots.

Description/Taste

Tarocco blood oranges vary in size and shape, depending on the specific clone, but are generally medium to large, averaging 7 to 10 centimeters in diameter. The fruits are globular to round with blunt, curved edges and sometimes feature a prominent bump on the stem end, known as a neck or collar. Tarocco blood oranges are commonly harvested between 200 and 250 grams in weight, and their rinds are semi-smooth, taut, and tightly adhered to the flesh. The rinds ripen from green to shades of yellow-orange and are occasionally blushed with faint patches of pink or red. Tarocco blood orange rinds have a leathery feel and are covered in sunken oil glands, creating a lightly rough, pebbled surface. Underneath the rind, the flesh is divided into 10 to 12 segments by thin membranes and has a tender, soft, aqueous, and succulent consistency. Tarocco blood oranges are nearly seedless and characteristically flushed with pink, red, and purple-red pigments. The pigments vary in each fruit, depending on cultivation conditions, and some may be more colored than others. The color also often appears at the bottom of the fruit. Tarocco blood oranges are edible raw once ripe and release a faintly fruity aroma. The flesh is sweet and balanced with acidity, creating a rich, sweet-tart, and fruity taste with subtle nuances of raspberries. 

Description/Taste

Red Dragon fruits are small to medium-sized varietals, averaging 4 to 9 centimeters in diameter, and have an oval to oblong shape. The fruit’s skin ranges in color from bright pink, fuchsia, to red-brown, and is semi-smooth and waxy, covered in fleshy, overlapping scales that showcase green tips. The curvy scales have a triangular shape, and Red Dragon fruit varieties typically have narrower scales. The thin skin can be easily peeled once sliced, revealing a dark red to crimson flesh containing many tiny, black, edible seeds. The flesh has a dense, semi-firm, and tender, aqueous consistency, contrasted with the crunchy, chewy seeds, creating a texture similar to kiwi fruit. Red Dragon fruit has little to no aroma and should appear taut, shiny, and brightly colored when ripe. The flesh has a delicate, sweet, earthy, and mildly acidic flavor combined with a faint nuttiness from the seeds. 

Description/Taste

Sapodillas are generally small, averaging 4 to 12 centimeters in length, and vary in shape from oval, conical, round, to oblate, depending on the specific variety. The skin is thin, semi-smooth, and tan to light brown, sometimes covered in a rough, textured coating that dissipates as it ripens. Underneath the surface, the flesh is firm, dense, and astringent when young, containing a high saponin content causing the sensation of cotton mouth if consumed. The fruits must be ripe before eating, and as the fruit matures, the yellow-orange to red-brown flesh will soften and develop an aqueous, pulpy texture. The flesh will also contain a granular, somewhat grainy consistency and encase 3 to 12 glossy, oval, and hard, black-brown seeds in a central cavity. The seeds are inedible and should not be consumed as each seed bears a small hook on one end that can catch in the soft tissue of the throat. Sapodillas have a faint squash-like scent when sliced open, and the flesh is sweet, musky, and malty with molasses, pear, and brown sugar nuances. When selecting Sapodillas, the skin should be lightly scratched. If the scratched portion reveals green skin, the fruit is young, but if the skin is yellow, the fruit is mature. Once a mature fruit is selected, it can be ripened to personal taste and desired consistency.

You can find all the rest of the in stock produce on their website! Head there to see what you might want to grab to try out something new!

https://marketbasketnutrition.com/simplehealthytastyfood/trying-new-foods-has-benefits

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/food-and-cooking/sdut-local-wholesale-helps-chefs-cook-with-confidence-2012mar13-htmlstory.html

https://ediblesandiego.ediblecommunities.com/shop/market-explorer-specialty-produce-mission-hills