Founded by his Great Grandfather in 1886, Jonathan Hurst Ltd., a well known Spitalfields wholesaler, was owned by his father Alan and partner Alec Green in the 60's and 70's until they sold it to the expanding Starns Group in 1981. After running Geo. Isles Jnr. Ltd. for Starns for 11 years, Jon returned to the family tradition and, in 1992 founded his own business.

Based in New Spitalfields Market, J.T. Produce Ltd. is run by Jon and partner Ray Monk together with a staff of nine which includes Jon's wife Sharon who is Company Secretary.

Ray also has had a long career in the business. Having initially been a cashier, he followed in his father's footsteps to become a market porter. Much later, he branched out into the retail trade, having a successful greengrocers for several years before joining Jon on Geo.Isles Jnr. Ltd. as a salesman in 1989.

J.T. Produce Ltd. was founded around home grown vegetables ~ roots and brassicas in particular. Soon though, it became evident that to expand they would have to broaden the range of produce offered. They worked hard on this, adding several salad lines and most importantly bananas very early on. In 1994 they recruited fruit and exotics expert Michael Leonard, formerly with his own family firm of W.J. Leonard & Sons, to develop a fruit and exotics business under the same roof. Lucrative relationships have since grown with a number of specialist English growers and reputable importers.

As the company has grown, the need to handle imported produce has become increasingly evident. Jon explains: “Modern day shoppers and chefs have no regard for seasons in the way their parents did. They expect all produce to be readily available 52 weeks of the year and they’re not concerned where we source it. Whilst certain home grown items are available year round, many are seasonal, obviously requiring us to trade in imported produce to supplement these”.

1998 saw the addition of Dave Kelsall to the staff. Having formally owned and run veg. firm Tunnard & Son in Spitalfields, he brought with him a portfolio of both suppliers and customers, strenghtening the company's trading position still further.

The expansion of the company was beginning to put the admin. side of the business under pressure and by early 1999 it was obvious that assistance in this area had become a real need. Enter Phil Snellgrove, who previously owned Bennett & Hawes in Spitalfields. He had a wealth of experience in bookwork for the wholesale trade and soon had the admin. of the company running smoothly.

The last addition to the senior staff was in the Summer of 2001 when Michael Leonard's son James joined his father on the Fruit & Exotics side. James had previously worked with his father in the early 90's, but then left market life to persue a career in the City. This career move was interrupted by a long illness, after which he decided to return to the fruit trade. Michael and James have together substantially increased the amount of trade the company does with the catering sector, working hard to source the ever increasing number of lines demanded by modern day chefs.