CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Since 1972, Fruit King Produce has served the Corpus Christi community.
Fruit King Produce owner and operator Joe Martinez said his parents started the business 49 years ago with family in mind.
"Well, we've got four of my family, including myself, and we start stocking up all the shelves," he said. "We've got three guys here, and they're just stocking up and stocking up; they never stop."
But before the they are able to stock up the shelves, the store has to transfer their fruits and vegetables from their distributors.
Martinez said they take care of transporting their goods on their own.
"We have our food trucks and 18-wheelers," Martinez said. "And (it helps us) getting the produce here."
All the extra effort put in by the staff at Fruit King, Martinez said, helps get affordable produce into Corpus Christi pantries.
"People really need good prices (on their produce)," Martinez said. "And it makes me feel good when they come to me and they say 'Thank you for having this produce store. Thank you for having these prices. If it wasn't for Fruit King, we couldn't get these prices,' you know?"
Martinez said Fruit King does all they can to provide their produce to the public, because of what the community has done for them.
"We appreciate Corpus Christi here, supporting us all the time," he said.
Fruit King Produce has two separate locations in Corpus Christi.
The first location at 1607 Morgan Ave. is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The second is located at 4702 Ayers St. and is also open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
