
As Treasurer of E. Armata as well 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 workday around 4 am.
Ackie first joined E. Armata in 1978 when Nick Armata hired him to unload trailers. At the age of 21, right out of college, he would show up at Hunts Point Market with a small truck to buy and later resell produce to restaurants. That was where he met Nick’s nephew Peter, who told Ackie, “Stick around, I’ll introduce to my Uncle Nick. We are always looking for young people. When Peter introduced Ackie to Nick, he noticed Ackie’s wedding band. Upon seeing this, he asked Ackie, “Are you married?” Ackie replied yes to which Nick said “Good. Go see the foreman, tell him I said to give you a job.” 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 ten 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 2000, 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. Before returning to Armata to start his new position as a buyer, Ackie asked Nick Armata for advice as he often had in the past. Nick told him, “Be yourself, be honest, and everything else will fall into place. Ever since then, Ackie has nurtured the Fruit Division by building relationships with some of the best growers in the business.