A grape is just a grape until you understand the story behind it—the company that nurtures it and the values that set apart its quality, flavor, and journey to market. In an increasingly transactional marketplace, Ira Greenstein reaches across the table, the distance, and the divide, and becomes what today’s retail customers crave most: a partner. Call me a biased advocate for fresh produce, but this means something more and more these days.
“At its core, this is a farming business—but it runs on relationships. Direct Source Marketing™ was founded on direct communication with customers, honesty, and follow-through,” Ira, President and Founder of Direct Source Marketing, shares with me when I ask him to touch on the heart of the company. “By staying true to those principles, we’ve built strong partnerships with our growers, logistics teams, and retail customers, and we work together to make programs successful. We believe good relationships are where real value is created.”
In today’s produce landscape, execution, consistency, and accountability matter more than ever. Direct Source Marketing has built its business around those principles—connecting retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice buyers directly to high-quality fruit through a vertically integrated, relationship-driven model.
Ira, who found his way into the industry early in his career with the help of his grandfather, who worked at C.H. Robinson, was drawn in by the pace of fresh produce, the dynamic people who occupied it, and the stories that reflected a deep desire to bring exceptional fresh food to people. Now, with more than 35 years of produce industry experience behind him, Ira brings that same early love to everything he does.
As Ira puts it, “No two days are ever the same. Every day, there are new challenges that bring either a sense of accomplishment or the drive to come back and do better tomorrow.”
That unyielding dynamic has informed all that Ira does. Founded on the idea that sourcing should be proactive rather than reactive, Direct Source Marketing operates as both a grower and importer, giving customers greater confidence in quality, supply continuity, and execution. With ownership in grape vineyards in Peru and strawberry fields in California, the company maintains hands-on involvement from the field through final delivery.
“No two days are ever the same. Every day, there are new challenges that bring either a sense of accomplishment or the drive to come back and do better tomorrow.”
Ira Greenstein, President and Founder of Direct Source Marketing™
Every part of the source-to-supply-chain network remains a vital and integral component of Direct Source Marketing’s accountability and oversight. This expression of care and commitment is in direct relationship to the values that hold the company to a high standard.
“What sets Direct Source Marketing apart is not just what we sell, but how we operate,” Ira expands. “Our team emphasizes close communication, real-time logistics coordination, and rigorous quality inspections at every step. From harvest planning to cold-chain management, the focus is on honoring our commitments.”
As retailers look for partners who can deliver more than just product, Direct Source Marketing continues to stand out as a supplier built from the source up—combining owned production, trusted grower relationships, and hands-on execution to deliver fruit buyers can rely on, season after season.
“Our customers come first, every day. They have plenty of options, and the fact that they choose to work with us matters. We honor that by doing business with integrity and treating every interaction as personal,” Ira reflects.
Turning to the cornerstones of Direct Source Marketing, Ira opens up about the company’s grape portfolio. The vertically integrated operation sources and grows premium table grapes across multiple countries, allowing it to serve customers with consistency throughout the year. In addition, Peruvian grape vineyards give the team direct control over farming practices, varietal selection, and harvest timing—ensuring fruit that meets exacting standards for flavor, size, and shelf-life.
To further strengthen an already high-value offering, Direct Source Marketing also imports cherries, expanding its lineup with high-demand seasonal items that complement its core programs. Long-standing grower relationships, paired with in-house quality oversight, allow the company to deliver fruit that performs at retail and meets buyer expectations, arrival after arrival.
“Strong partnerships with our growers and shippers are the backbone of our business and have helped secure our place among the leading distributors on the East Coast. Many of the growers we work with are family operations that have devoted generations to farming, taking real pride in both their work and the fruit they produce,” Ira describes.
On the domestic side, Direct Source Marketing’s California strawberry ranches further strengthen its vertically integrated approach. By growing select crops in the U.S. and managing imported programs abroad, the company balances domestic reliability with global sourcing flexibility—an advantage in an increasingly complex supply chain.
“As things change across the industry, we believe the real opportunity is in sticking to our core principles—quality farming, strong partnerships with customers, opening new West Coast markets, and reliable follow-through,” Ira explains. “No matter the fruit we’re shipping, Direct Source Marketing stays focused on what matters most: communication, problem-solving, and execution.”
The look of a handshake has changed over the course of Ira’s time in the industry, but its strength, supportive hold, and consistent presence remain hallmarks of its enduring value—felt at every turn in the vineyard and beyond. 
