BUSINESS BUILT ON A HANDSHAKE

DB+
A LEGACY THAT STARTED IN 1918
AND CONTINUES TODAY
Samuel “Sharkey” Katzman, the “S” in “S. Katzman Produce", started in the produce business as a peddler with a horse and wagon in the early 1900s. After working in the produce industry for many years, including working in the Bronx Terminal Market, he got sick and took a leave from work. When he was well enough to work again, he did so on his own, not wanting to work for anyone else because he wasn’t sure he could give an honest day’s work for a day’s pay.
So he went out on his own as a produce jobber, taking all the money he had to do what he knew how to do best: buy and sell produce. But when he went to buy the produce, the merchants wouldn’t take his money. Having worked with him for so long, they knew his work ethic and they trusted him. Not wanting to take his last dollars they said, “Sharkey, take the produce and you can come back to pay after you sell it.” They gave him credit on his handshake.
Now nearly a century later and in its 4th generation of the family business, S. Katzman Produce operates with the same traditional values it was built on: relationships, reputation, integrity, and trust. Still today, we buy and sell our produce without contracts and our partners up and down the supply chain trust us to do the best job we can for them at the fairest prices. We’re proud of our roots and our business built on a handshake.
AS A 4th generation business, Katzman operates with the same traditional values it was built on:

RELATIONSHIPS
REPUTATION
INTEGRITY
TRUST

AS A 4th generation business, Katzman operates with the same traditional values it was built on:

RELATIONSHIPS
REPUTATION
INTEGRITY
TRUST

1918
SAMUEL KATZMAN
(1899 - 1972)
Starts in the produce business as a peddler with a horse and wagon.
1918
SAMUEL KATZMAN
(1899 - 1972)
Starts in the produce business as a peddler with a horse and wagon.
1935
1935
SAMUEL STARTS WORKING IN THE BRONX TERMINAL MARKET.
LATE 1930s
Samuel moves his produce business to the Washington Market at 201 West Street in Tribeca, where he sells 7 items: collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip tops, hanover, yams, and jumbo yams.
LATE 1930s
Samuel moves his produce business to the Washington Market at 201 West Street in Tribeca, where he sells 7 items: collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip tops, hanover, yams, and jumbo yams.
1940s
1940s
EARLY '40s
Samuel gets sick and is out of work for six months to a year. Once he recovers, he begins working on his own, starting his new business, S. Katzman Produce. Samuel worked as a produce jobber alongside his wife, Wilhelmina, who kept the books.
1944
HAROLD KATZMAN
(1928 - 2000)
Samuel's son, Harold, joins his dad as a jobber, driving the truck at age 16.
Harold Katzman and his wife, Phyllis.
1950s
1950s
1950s
Harold and Phyllis move to Florida and open a roadside vegetable stand on US1.
1959
Samuel and Wilhelmina get sick, and Harold and Phyllis move back to New York to help with the family business. Harold buys and sells produce and Phyllis does the books at the kitchen table.
1959
Samuel and Wilhelmina get sick, and Harold and Phyllis move back to New York to help with the family business. Harold buys and sells produce and Phyllis does the books at the kitchen table.
1960s
1960s
EARLY '60s
Samuel begins “bunching greens,” an innovation that was soon adopted throughout the rest of the produce industry.
1965
S. Katzman Produce is incorporated.
1965
S. Katzman Produce is incorporated.
1967
The Hunts Point Produce Market opens and S. Katzman Produce moves here. At the time, Katzman had just 12 employees.
1971
HAROLD Katzman TAKES OVER THE FAMILY BUSINESS.
1971
The stock purchase agreement from when Harold and Phyllis Katzman took ownership of S. Katzman Produce.
1976
STEPHEN KATZMAN
(b. 1955)
Harold’s son, Stephen, graduates from college and joins his dad in the family business. His wife, Marlene, joins Phyllis in keeping the books.
1976
STEPHEN KATZMAN
(b. 1955)
Harold’s son, Stephen, graduates from college and joins his dad in the family business. His wife, Marlene, joins Phyllis in keeping the books.
1995
STEPHEN KATZMAN TAKES OVER THE FAMILY BUSINESS.
1995
1995
s. Katzman Produce OPENS ITS BERRY DIVISION.
1995
s. Katzman Produce OPENS ITS BERRY DIVISION.
Harold Katzman with his grandchildren, Stefanie, Cheryl, Sam, and Robert.
2001
STEFANIE KATZMAN
(b. 1983)
Stephen’s daughter, Stefanie, graduates high school and starts working in the family business during the summers; she joins full-time after college.
2001
STEFANIE KATZMAN
(b. 1983)
Stephen’s daughter, Stefanie, graduates high school and starts working in the family business during the summers; she joins full-time after college.
2004
2004
Katzman opens its fruit division and its trucking department, Sharkey’s Trucking.
2005
KATZMAN OPENS ITS SPECIALTY DIVISION.
Today
Katzman has about 375 employees, the biggest footprint in the Hunts Point Produce Market, and sells a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Today
Katzman has about 375 employees, the biggest footprint in the Hunts Point Produce Market, and sells a full line of fresh fruits and vegetables.
What We Do