Chris Armata, President

As President of E. Armata, Inc., Chris Armata oversees the general administration, as well as the trend and focus of the company. He believes in forward thinking and technology, and never sitting still. Chris places great value in his company's biggest assets - their integrity, their people, and their experience – along with the simple approach of always looking ahead. These attributes are what Chris feels will continue to propel E. Armata successfully into the future.

Chris started his industry experience at home, having never been given anything without earning it, and learning everything about the business from his father, Nick. From the age of 14, Chris worked with his father in the summers, starting from the bottom sweeping warehouses and unloading freight cars when they arrived.

After attending college, Chris started in the company as a warehouseman, and worked his way through checker, then foreman, and then became salesman at 23, which was a highlight for Chris. During these fun and challenging times, Chris enjoyed working alongside the other family members. As a salesman, he was responsible for selling western vegetables at night, while his father, Nick, would buy during the day. The challenge of building the vegetable business with his father was a career highlight, as Chris was learning from the best.

E. Armata has evolved and grown tremendously over time, with Chris and his brother, Paul, acting as sole owners since 1997. Chris is proud to have a strong team that he feels is one of the best in the business; with people who fit the company and excel in the roles they fill.

Paul Armata, Secretary/Treasurer

As Secretary/Treasurer of E. Armata, Inc., Paul Armata handles purchasing, and monitors sales for the Western Vegetable Division. Paul also oversees other warehouse functions, such as managing the crews, warehouse operations, trucking, and overall sales. As part of the process, he also supervises customer receivables. Paul enjoys interacting with customers, and believes that having good customer relations is the key to continued growth.

Paul grew up with the family business, and has worked at E. Armata for 25 years. He started as a warehouseman; offloading trucks and making sidewalk deliveries in the summers and on weekends. He became a full-time salesman at the age of 19, initially working nights selling vegetables; a position he held for 17 years.

Since 1997, Paul and his brother, Chris, have been sole owners of the company. Paul is proud of the family business, their hardworking employees, and a legacy of high-quality E. Armata products.

John Acompora, Managing Director of Fruit Division

As Managing Director of E. Armata's Fruit Division, John Acompora, "Ackie", handles fruit purchasing, oversees fruit sales, and manages all aspects of the Fruit Division. Ackie especially enjoys cultivating the relationships with customers and grower/shippers, and usually begins his work day around 4am.

Ackie joined E. Armata 33 years ago, when Nick Armata first hired him to unload trailers. At the age of 21, right out of college, he would show up to Hunts Point Market with a small truck to buy and later resell produce to restaurants. After a simple introduction by Nick's brother, Pete (which later became the "job interview"), Nick made the company's priorities very clear, as he advised "Be yourself, be honest, and everything else will fit into place." Two weeks later, Chris Armata came home from college, which was the beginning of a long friendship. Nick brought Chris up in western vegetables and Ackie in fruit. Ackie worked his way up from Unloader to Checker, then Foreman, and eventually Salesman. After a couple of years, Ackie started his own brokerage business, and for almost 10 years he worked as a broker in the E. Armata building, 16 hours per day, all the while maintaining his friendship with Chris.

Ackie worked a few more years in the industry, until about 11 years ago, when his son, Louis, passed away suddenly. With a need to refocus, Chris and Paul invited Ackie to come back to E. Armata to manage the Fruit Division. Ackie has nurtured the Fruit Division by building relationships with some of the best growers in the business.

Stu Freed, Director of Eastern Vegetable Division

As Director of the Eastern Vegetable Division at E. Armata, Stu Freed's primary focus is to manage purchasing and sales of all Eastern vegetables. Stu takes pride in representing first class Florida and Mexican vegetable growers.

Stu originally started in the retail end of the business, working in a store until the age of 18 when he was married, at which point he worked in a trucking business for a year. Stu then purchased the store in which his career initially started, and about 4 years later, he then sold this business. For the next 16 years, Stu worked in and expanded a wholesaler business, where he gained a solid background working directly with farmers and shipping; experience that has been essential to his career with E. Armata over the past 9 years.

Eric Mitchnick, Director of Specialty Division

As Director of the Specialty Division at E. Armata, Eric Mitchnick handles procurement of all specialty items, such as mangos, limes, avocados, and organics, to mention a few. Primarily, Eric establishes new grower/shipper relationships that include international growers. Eric also manages the day and night sales of specialty items. He sources products from all over the World.

Eric has been with E. Armata for over a year, and was instrumental in starting the Specialty Division. These 100+ items are all new with E. Armata, which has expanded the customer base, and promoted further business growth.

Eric's career started at the age of 16 in Long Island. He worked in retail for over 15 years, and gained extensive experience in the organics industry through an organics program he built up with a large wholesaler and grower/shipper in Philadelphia. His experience also extended into marketing and merchandising consulting with wholesale and retail food chains, and helped forge relationships directly with growers and distributors in the organics industry. Eric has been professionally recognized in the produce industry, and received the Produce Business Market Excellence Award in 1996 and 1997, as well as the "40 under 40" Award in Produce Business Magazine in 2007.

Louis E. Solomon, Director of Tomato Division

As Director of the Tomato Division at E. Armata, Louis E. Solomon manages the buying and coordinates sales of tomatoes. Louis begins each morning with an evaluation of merchandise from various growers to insure the product is fresh, and that it is distributed to E. Armata's various locations at Hunts Point Market. Louis oversees sales and communicates directly with E. Armata's shippers and customers.

Louis was born into the produce business, and grew up being part of his family's business at an early age, initially unloading trailers with his cousin, David. Later, he moved into packaging, and as he approached his teens, Louis went to different stops with his route book and sold produce off a truck. Louis graduated magna cum laude from Lehigh University, obtained his law degree in 1976 from Hofstra University School of Law, and passed the Bar exam the following year. Louis returned to his roots in the produce industry to work with the family business before coming to E. Armata in March of 2009. Louis, with his vast experience and energy, was brought on to be an instrumental part of expanding the tomato business at E. Armata. Louis enjoys the fast-moving, second-by-second pace of the produce business, and has a passion for the industry that is exceeded by very few.

Cono Comunale, Watermelon Division Consultant

As a Consultant in the Watermelon Division, Cono Comunale facilitates the negotiating, buying, and main distribution of watermelon product for E. Armata. Through his consulting company, Ralph and Cono Comunale, Cono now specializes in handling the watermelon business for E. Armata, while his sons, Richard and Ralph, do most of the selling of these melons.

The Comunale family first came to the United States in 1888 from Naples. With 65 years in the business, Cono is the third generation in the family business, originally a distributer of California wine grapes and grower of watermelons in Florida. Cono served in the US Navy, then attended Alfred University and Pace College to study marketing and buying. In 1950, Cono became a partner in his father's business and saw his responsibilities grow significantly after his father's passing only 5 years later. Cono has been active with the National Watermelon Association, and served on their board of directors. Over a period of time, he was part owner in a Florida packing company that specialized in peppers, cucumbers and squash; a company he later decided to sell. Cono was one of the first owners in the Hunts Point Market in 1967, and has consulted with E. Armata's Watermelon Division since 1996.

Though he no longer distributes California wine grapes, he still enjoys a good glass of wine.

Marshall Zakarin, Director of Mushroom Division

As Director of the Mushroom Division at E. Armata, Marshall "FunGuy" Zakarin is the buyer of mushrooms, Israeli herbs, and other miscellaneous products for E. Armata. In addition to purchasing, Marshall handles sales and product quality assurance, oversees the product, and provides advice on product pricing for the other salesmen.

Marshall came to E. Armata roughly 10 years ago, originally to handle mushrooms for the company. He started his career in the catering industry, purchasing produce for a caterer. From the catering business, Marshall began to make connections throughout the wholesale industry. He later made the move into wholesale when he joined a small, 6-truck operation with a small warehouse in the market, where he introduced mushrooms to their product line. Marshall's background has made him the fungi expert at E. Armata, and he is thus affectionately referred to as "FunGuy".

David Solomon, Production Manager of Tomato Repacking Division

As the Production Manager of the Tomato Repacking Division at E. Armata, David Solomon manages the tomato crew and processes the tomato product, which consists primarily of unloading, select grading and re-packing the product for sale out of the warehouse.

David worked in his family's produce business with his cousin, Louis, for about 30 years, starting when he was a young teen. He then worked in the industry for another tomato packer for about 9 years, at which point he and Louis both came to E. Armata. David has been with E. Armata for over a year now, and enjoys working closely with his cousin to maintain a quality product for E. Armata, and help grow the company's tomato business.

Joseph E. Eisinger, Traffic & Logistics

Joseph E. Eisinger manages the Traffic & Logistics Division at E. Armata, and ensures that all products arrive as scheduled, are inventoried correctly, stored properly, and moved out in the proper fashion. Joseph contributes in managing the man power, and is responsible for data management for all other divisions at E. Armata.

Joseph initially gained experience working with inventory in the Army. He then spent time managing department buildings in a real estate agency, and about 10 years managing a taxi cab company. For the next 4 years, Joseph owned and operated an auto repair garage that specialized in fixing yellow cabs. Joseph came to E. Armata in May, 1993, initially as a porter, then an unloader for a year, followed by a position as foreman, and finally as the Traffic & Logistics manager for the past 10 years. Joseph takes great pride in making sure the E. Armata products are properly accounted for as they are moved in, stored, inventoried, and moved back out.