Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World

Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World
Brief history: In 1900, Sicilian immigrant Giacomo Ruma founded what would eventually become Ruma Fruit & Produce and then Ruma’s Fruit & Gift Basket World. As a fruit and vegetable peddler, Giacomo owned his own pushcart in Haymarket Square on Blackstone Street. Each morning Giacomo arrived at 3 am to purchase his inventory for the day. Alongside vendors of fresh crabs and other fresh fish, Giacomo would peddle green beans, tomatoes, apples, oranges, potatoes and more. In the evenings, he would prepare the pushcart for the next day’s work, cleaning off the fruits and vegetables to be presentable and making any repairs on his pushcart.

Giacomo Ruma offered his customers some of the best fruit and produce in the area and because of his dedication to keeping prices fair and offering a variety of produce, the people of the neighborhoods were loyal to him and his pushcart.

What we today would call an ‘old fashioned work ethic’ was simply part of Giacomo’s personality.

Today: Fourth Generation Continues Ruma’s Success: Despite the hundred years that have passed since Giacomo first established Ruma’s Fruit, two core values remain the same: the commitment to superior quality of our products and a commitment to our customers’ satisfaction.

In 1986, Jim, the principal owner, answered one of his buyer’s requests for fruit baskets to send to his customers as holiday gifts. The recipients were so pleased that Jim decided to venture into the arena of both fruit and gift baskets during the next holiday season. This move helped the company’s potential expand from a locally-known, cash-based business of the 1960’s to the web-based, nationally-recognized business of today. Success at Ruma’s is defined from this anecdote: a customer had a request and Jim responded with an exceptional product.

Jim Ruma and the rest of the Ruma family are committed to delivering superior quality baskets. Jim oversees each part of the process, from purchasing the gourmet ingredients to creating new baskets, to meeting his customers’ changing needs. He even makes gift baskets himself to ensure that he understands each part of the process: from ordering to delivering, from start to finish.

To ensure that Ruma’s delivers only top-quality fruit and produce, each morning Mark buys the necessary fruit at the New England Produce Center to fulfill the day’s orders. Daily office operations are managed by both Mary Ann and Andrea, and Andrea and Jim have worked together not only to maintain the website but to find more efficient ways to advertise the impressive baskets that Ruma’s offers.

The future of Ruma’s Fruit & Gift Basket World: Ruma’s fully expects to continue to grow and change as its customers’ needs grow and change. When we saw the need for our customers to order online, we made it happen. When we realized we needed to grow with the technological innovations such as Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp, we adjusted. Each week, Jim keeps customers informed on his blogs. Despite the progress Ruma’s has made, our goal is the same as the one established by our founder Giacomo in 1900 in Haymarket Square: superior products and superior customer care. The key to our success always has been – and will continue to be – or customers’ satisfaction and personalized service.

 

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