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 that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey†...
in New York City for the last 33 years and
WCAU
WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
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 () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
family in
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...
. 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 ...
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
Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Hunts Point Market in the
Bronx, New York
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
. He has also taught cooking classes for
Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
and
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
, among other chains. Produce Pete's new book They Call Me Produce Pete ( publishes 2023) In the Kitchen with Bette & Produce Pete( publishes 2024)
He has been a resident of
North Haledon, New Jersey
North Haledon (pronounced North HAIL-don) is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,927, an increase of ...
.
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 starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...
on
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
with
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...