Peter Napolitano (born February 23, 1945) better known by stage name Produce Pete (sometimes referred to as Pete Your Produce Pal), is an American grocer, chef, and celebrity spokesperson who is perhaps best known for his weekly fruit and vegetable segments that appear on

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jer ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Napolitano had appeared in commercials and at special events for the now defunct A&P-owned supermarket chain

Pathmark Pathmark is a supermarket brand owned by Allegiance Retail Services, a retailers’ cooperative based in Iselin, New Jersey, USA. Pathmark currently has one location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, which it has operated since 2019. From ...

since 2001, although he never appeared in Pathmark's post-2010 bankruptcy ad campaign.

Early life and family business

Napolitano was born into an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

family in Englewood, New Jersey. In 1953, as a young boy he began selling fruits and vegetables at the neighborhood

farmer's market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

which was owned by his family. In 1970 Napolitano took ownership of the business and ran it as a seasonal operation, often selling items beyond his line of produce, geared towards upcoming holidays and celebrations. In 1997 he turned the business over to his son, Peter Charles Napolitano. Napolitano Produce closed in 2006 after serving the Bergen County, New Jersey community for 53 years. Pete met his wife, Bette, when he was 16 years old and she was 14. In 1967 they married. Pete and Bette have 2 children and seven grandchildren. Bette frequently makes appearances on Produce Pete segments.

Career

Napolitano has hosted numerous produce, food, and nutrition-themed television segments since the late 1980s. The author of ''Produce Pete's Farmacopeia: From Apples to Zucchini, and Everything in Between'' (1994, republished in 2001), he has published numerous recipes and tips pertaining to picking, buying, and cooking produce. In 2000, he also worked as a buyer for S. Katzman Produce at the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, New York. He has also taught cooking classes for

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

and

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...

, among other chains. He has been a resident of North Haledon N.J.

In popular culture

Napolitano's television segments have been parodied by actor and comedian

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

with Jon Stewart.The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Produce Pete with Steve Carell - Cider
thedailyshow.com, February 23, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Produce Pete 1940s births Living people American businesspeople in retailing American food writers American grocers American people of Italian descent American television chefs American male chefs Macy's, Inc. NBC News Mass media in New York (state) Mass media in Pennsylvania People from Bergenfield, New Jersey People from Oakland, New Jersey The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company