(bright upbeat music) - [Geoffrey] A visit to the produce section at your local grocery store is like a trip around the world.

Bananas from Guatemala, bell peppers from Canada, dragon fruit from Ecuador, kiwis from New Zealand.

How did this cornucopia get here?

To answer that question, let's visit Chicago's sprawling International Produce Market near the Pilsen neighborhood on the Southwest side.

The day starts early here, very early.

Well, it's 2:05 AM and it's pretty quiet around here, but not for long.

At Galera Fresh, one of the 22 wholesalers here, orders are already streaming in from grocery stores and restaurants.

And soon enough, workers spring into action, gathering every kind of produce imaginable, and loading trucks for delivery.

Warehouse manager Kevin Sak spends the wee hours of every workday overseeing the operation.

Why does it have to be in the middle of the night?

- Well, because you have to stock the shelves at the grocery stores before all the customers get in.

- [Geoffrey] At all hours, trucks back up to the refrigerated loading dock, bringing produce from farms all across the country and beyond.

So what do we got here?

- Strawberries.

- Look at that.

Oh, man.

Those look really good.

Oh, man.

Somebody who buys that strawberry box is gonna say, "Wait a minute."

- "There's one missing."

- "There's one missing."

(laughs) - [Brian] This one, it's cutting really nice.

Check the sugar now.

- [Geoffrey] Specialized produce buyers, like Brian Clarke, haggle with suppliers, set prices and make sure the products will keep customers happy.

- [Brian] 11 to 12 is really good.

- [Geoffrey] This is a little meter?

- [Brian] Yeah, it's a 13, so that's really sweet.

- [Geoffrey] Too sweet?

- It could never be too sweet, could it?

(person laughs) - Pepe and Paco Vega are twins who own and operate Galera Fresh as third-generation produce sellers in Chicago.

- [Paco] My grandfather started in 1970.

He was one of the first Mexicans, pioneers, bringing Mexican produce.

- We had a vision since little kids when we used to work, you know, work for my grandfather and my uncles, that this is where we were gonna be.

- Chicago has been a hub for produce since the late 1800s.

The first wholesale produce market was in the Loop on South Water Street, but the crowded and smelly market became a nuisance as skyscrapers rose downtown.

Elegant Wacker Drive replaced it in the 1920s and the market moved to 14th and Racine on the lower West side, keeping its name, South Water Market.

When that facility became outdated, the market moved to this state-of-the-art structure near Pilsen in 2001.

Today, the sheer variety of produce here might have stumped the vendors at those earlier markets.

So what is that?

- This is cherimoya.

You know, for Hispanic people, they call it kalama.

Very popular too and expensive.

- Dario Uribe and Breck Grigas are specialists in what the industry calls exotics.

What is this?

- [Dario] This is longan.

- [Geoffrey] Longan?

- [Dario] Yeah, those come out of Vietnam.

Guanabanas.

- Guanabanas.

- Yes.

- [Dario] It looks like something out of the Harry Potter.

So where's this from?

- [Dario] Mexico.

This is lychee.

- [Geoffrey] I love these.

These are cool.

What are these?

- Passion fruit.

It has a wonderful aroma.

- Oh, it does!

Smell.

(both laughing) (light music) As day breaks, drivers hurry off with their perishable products for a grocery store near you.

- But people don't realize what it takes to get... You go to the store and you throw a watermelon in your cart.

You don't think nothing of it.

You know what I'm saying?

We're up at 2:00 in the morning to get all this stuff up here.

- [Geoffrey] What does it mean to you to be in this business?

- Our life, it's a lifestyle.

- It's a lifestyle.

This is our school, college, university, everything.

We learn everything here.

(light music continues)