OUR MISSIONOUR VISION - Key Persons

George J. Cornille was a farmer and historic settler from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. He & his father created a farm in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, building a windmill and bringing a little bit of Europe to Chicago. His family also had a farm rich in prized Illinois Muck Soil, located where part of O'Hare Airport now stands. While he loved his work, George was so trusted and well respected by the other local farmers in the Chicagoland community that they asked him to represent them when the Chicago Produce Market was created… To make sure that they were being fairly represented amongst the all the Big City merchants. It was an honor that he took seriously and he set a prescient for quality, service, & honesty that are still core tenants of our business today.

Henry J. Cornille worked with his father to carry on the tradition of the family business and was instrumental in adapting the business to bring fresh produce to people during the Second World War, The Great Depression, and many years afterwards. He cultivated many relationships with regional farmers from the Midwest and was far ahead of the locavore movement. He believed that if you bought from good people & sold to good people, that was the only way to have good business.