A History of Integrity and Passion

Propelled by a love for fresh fruits and vegetables as a young boy, David Hollinger, founder of Four Seasons Produce, Inc., inherited his father's zeal for farming and sold his first garden crop to a store near Ephrata, Pennsylvania when he was just eight years old. David's fervor for the industry deepened as he traveled with his father to purchase produce for the family's farm market. 

Years later, after David was married, he decided it was time to do something "more noble than business."  He and his wife, Debbie, spent several years in rural Mississippi providing volunteer services in a farmer's co-op. After returning home, David resumed work in the family produce market, buying produce and managing the company.

In 1976, Four Seasons Produce, Inc. was born when local bankers recognized and awarded Hollinger's personal integrity and potential with a loan and a line of credit. Hollinger purchased a 5,000 square foot building, some trucks and equipment.

As sales continued to grow, the company outgrew its first home in 1986, and moved into a 25,000 square foot building. In 2004 it moved again into its current facility, 262,000 square-foot distribution center including nearly 193,000 square feet of refrigerated space with 176-foot long storage aisles storing 6,700 pallets of product at various temperatures. Keeping at the vanguard of state-of-the-art technologies and logistical systems continues to push the company into the future, and the future is bright.

"Everyone is encouraged to think up creative ideas", says David Hollinger. "A piece of advice I picked up a long time ago was to hire good people and turn them loose.  Don't stifle them. I learned to delegate, to hire people better than me and let them blossom."

David has had a lot of family support along the way. His wife Debbie helped to design their corporate offices. She and her husband continue their passion for giving through their non-profit foundation that supports charitable works, including three orphanages in India.

Historically, the key element to the endurance of Four Seasons is the effort that goes into building relationships, both internally within the Four Seasons family, and externally with customers. Ron Carkoski, President and CEO describes this philosophy:

"While Four Seasons is, at its simplest level, a buying and selling organization, it is factually much more than that. If we leave it at the buying and selling level, we're no different than anyone else. What we do is make sure that all our individuals are focusing their various talents and capabilities on the direction we're going, namely to identify and provide solutions for our customers' needs. Only when we are truly solving our customers' issues are we truly different than anybody else."