Share via: LinkedInFacebookTwitterPeter Kopke Sr., who spent more than seven decades in the fruit industry and helped build the Chilean grape trade in the U.S., died Aug. 5. Kopke got his start at age 14 at the fruit auctions on Pier 28 in Manhattan, working summers for his father’s company, the Port Washington, New York-based William H. Kopke Jr. Inc. He also established the Port of Philadelphia as the company’s main distribution hub and moved William H. Kopke Jr. Inc. into large-scale air freight before it became standard practice in the industry. 1 importer of Chilean fruit and a leader in importing produce from Peru, Argentina, South Africa and Mexico. Founded in 1937, William H. Kopke Jr. Inc. is one of the largest and oldest importers and distributors of fresh fruit in North America.