Beyond weather challenges, there is one consumer preference that’s not always easy to satisfy. “Customers are concerned about chemicals even though they’re cleared by the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency),” Sheppard observes. “Some chemicals do have viable alternatives; some don’t—and we have to plead our case to use them.” He cites the asparagus beetle as an example: the insect degrades the quality of the crop, rendering it unsalable, unless conventional pesticides are carefully applied.
Retail Scene
The increasing popularity of locally grown fruits and vegetables is frequently cited as having the biggest impact on the state’s produce industry within the last year or two. “Jersey Fresh is a great tool in marketing,” observes Ron Budd, vice president of Gloucester County Packing Company in Woodbury. “Regional chain stores get behind locally grown and the Jersey Fresh label.”
Bill Nardelli, Sr., president of Nardelli Brothers, Inc., agrees: “Retailers are trending toward locally grown, and that’s extremely important to us. We have 80 commodities, and supply numerous out-of-state metropolitan areas with fresh, overnight deliveries.”
The retail scene, while highly supportive of the state’s branding programs, has also become crowded. “It’s highly competitive; consumers have a lot of choices of where to shop,” comments Budd. “For the big box stores we have Walmart, Shop Rite, ACME, Pathmark, and Wegmans, to name a few. And everybody wants the same thing—the best possible product for the least amount of money.”
Budd uses a couple of critical strategies to compete in this arena. For starters, he observes that retailers want one-stop shopping. “This has forced us to carry a full line of potatoes and pack sizes.” Secondly, “Just-in-time deliveries are a competitive edge,” he states. “What used to be called warehouses are now called distribution centers. Our customers don’t want to tie up money in inventory or in storage space; we’ve had to adapt to their needs.”
John Molinelli, president of the eponymous John Molinelli, Inc., agrees that times are changing. “Retailers are demanding a lot, they want more structured marketing to lock in on a set price for a week or two,” he explains. “You really have to know the markets and the supply in order to do this. It’s challenging, but we try to give them what they want.”
And while many supermarkets tend to be loyal to local produce, Thomas Sheppard, president of Eastern Fresh Growers, notes, “I would love to have this be even more of the case,” he asserts, recalling one chain opting to ship in asparagus rather than sourcing from local, in-season product.
While the latest food safety recommendations are not mandatory yet, Sheppard sees compliance as essential. He notes that even if he does not sell directly to a vendor, his business is still subject to an audit by that vendor. “It is a selling point if you’ve already complied,” he notes. “If you’re compliant, then you gain a new customer. In a sense, you’re getting paid for the audit, which is expensive. But at some point, everyone will have to do it, and the cost of the audits will be pushed onto the consumer.”
If New Jersey invites you for dinner, be prepared to dine at a table seating 715,000 acres, with a blinding assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. Of note are some recent shifts in land use, such as more blueberry acreage and less devoted to orchards. “We’d like to plant more to blueberries,” confirms Robert Von Rohr, director of marketing at Sunny Valley International in Glassboro, “but we’ve literally run out of room.”
Despite the shift, New Jersey is still a top peach producer (fourth nationally behind California, South Carolina, and Georgia), with blueberries holding at fifth place (behind Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington) in 2014. Cranberries are also a top commodity, with New Jersey ranking third in the nation behind Massachusetts and Wisconsin in production.
And while New Jersey has often been defined by its proximity to New York City and the many businesses in and around Newark, buyers and consumers alike are rethinking what the state is all about. “A lot of people associate New Jersey with the northern half of the state—the metropolitan half,” explains Bill Nardelli Sr., of Nardelli Brothers, Inc. in Cedarville. “More and more, people are finding out there’s a reason we’re called the Garden State.”
Planting and Growing Advantages
Ryan Flaim, managing member of R&R Flaim Next Generation Produce in Vineland, explains why this highly urbanized state is also profoundly abundant
in fruits and vegetables. “We have earlier product than other states, except for California,” he asserts, referring to some plantings as early as April and harvests beginning in May and June. Further, the southern portion of the state has optimal growing conditions. “This is due to our sandy soils and moderate climate,” Flaim says.
Average sales per grower have also continued to climb over the last several years. “I would say it’s driven by the locally-grown movement of blueberries and peaches,” posits Von Rohr, while Flaim has seen a surge in demand for Asian vegetables, radishes, romaine lettuce, and the increasingly popular kale.
This has also proven true for John Molinelli, Inc. in Vineland and the company’s Ashtyn Leigh Farms, which grows a wide variety of greens including kale, collards, and methi leaf (also known as fenugreek, often used as an herb or spice in a variety of dishes).
Branding and Recognition
Two additional factors in the marketing success of New Jersey’s produce continue to be easy access to several major metropolitan areas, and the state’s branding programs. Both “Jersey Fresh” and “Jersey Grown” drive an enduring preference for homegrown produce with wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, and these labels are recognized far beyond the borders of the state.
Though the branding initiative was designed to promote New Jersey produce to the state’s residents, the scope has widened considerably, according to Nardelli, whose company was a founding member of the program. “Now, the awareness of Eastern-grown fruits and vegetables is really developing. Western-grown commodities used to control the market due to their size, but we’ve developed a nice niche.”
By the Numbers
New Jersey’s abundance is dished up by eight principal fruit and vegetable-producing counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem, and southern Ocean.
Topping the menu are blueberries, cranberries, bell peppers, spinach, and peaches with a combined value of nearly $200 million annually. The Garden State’s basket is also dominated by vegetables destined for fresh market, with almost 84 percent (or 42,000 of 50,000 acres) of land planted for potatoes, melons, and other vegetables harvested for fresh use, as reported in the most recent census of agriculture.
Here are some facts and figures related to the Garden State’s fresh produce:
• Though ranked third nationally for cranberry production, New Jersey had the second-highest yield (nearly 209 barrels per acre) and commanded the highest price ($35 per barrel) in 2014
• The value of New Jersey’s utilized apple production has risen from under $13.8 million in 2005 to $29.8 million in 2014
• Total value for the state’s blueberry production in 2014 was up 40% from 2013, with the average fresh market price up 22¢ per pound
• Harvested blueberry acreage has climbed from 150 acres in 1929 to 1,500 acres in 1943 to 8,800 acres in 2014.
Sources: New Jersey Department of Agriculture, USDA National Statistics Service.
The exposure has certainly helped another Cedarville-based company, the aptly named Eastern Fresh Growers. President Thomas Sheppard points out that the state’s locally grown fruits and vegetables are not only fresher due to short delivery distances, but also better for the environment. “Produce shipped in from the West Coast leaves a bigger carbon footprint.” Though there is some controversy within the state about the definition of ‘local,’ the program’s impact has been considerable.
Ups and Downs: Weather and Food Safety
Despite the advantages, the industry is not all a bowl full of blueberries. The cold, snowy winter delayed early spring work and plantings. “We like to have the asparagus mowed, with fertilizer and weed killer down by the close of March,” offers Sheppard, but this was not possible this spring, as “the fields were just too wet.”
Beyond weather challenges, there is one consumer preference that’s not always easy to satisfy. “Customers are concerned about chemicals even though they’re cleared by the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency),” Sheppard observes. “Some chemicals do have viable alternatives; some don’t—and we have to plead our case to use them.” He cites the asparagus beetle as an example: the insect degrades the quality of the crop, rendering it unsalable, unless conventional pesticides are carefully applied.
Retail Scene
The increasing popularity of locally grown fruits and vegetables is frequently cited as having the biggest impact on the state’s produce industry within the last year or two. “Jersey Fresh is a great tool in marketing,” observes Ron Budd, vice president of Gloucester County Packing Company in Woodbury. “Regional chain stores get behind locally grown and the Jersey Fresh label.”
Bill Nardelli, Sr., president of Nardelli Brothers, Inc., agrees: “Retailers are trending toward locally grown, and that’s extremely important to us. We have 80 commodities, and supply numerous out-of-state metropolitan areas with fresh, overnight deliveries.”
The retail scene, while highly supportive of the state’s branding programs, has also become crowded. “It’s highly competitive; consumers have a lot of choices of where to shop,” comments Budd. “For the big box stores we have Walmart, Shop Rite, ACME, Pathmark, and Wegmans, to name a few. And everybody wants the same thing—the best possible product for the least amount of money.”
Budd uses a couple of critical strategies to compete in this arena. For starters, he observes that retailers want one-stop shopping. “This has forced us to carry a full line of potatoes and pack sizes.” Secondly, “Just-in-time deliveries are a competitive edge,” he states. “What used to be called warehouses are now called distribution centers. Our customers don’t want to tie up money in inventory or in storage space; we’ve had to adapt to their needs.”
John Molinelli, president of the eponymous John Molinelli, Inc., agrees that times are changing. “Retailers are demanding a lot, they want more structured marketing to lock in on a set price for a week or two,” he explains. “You really have to know the markets and the supply in order to do this. It’s challenging, but we try to give them what they want.”
And while many supermarkets tend to be loyal to local produce, Thomas Sheppard, president of Eastern Fresh Growers, notes, “I would love to have this be even more of the case,” he asserts, recalling one chain opting to ship in asparagus rather than sourcing from local, in-season product.
While the latest food safety recommendations are not mandatory yet, Sheppard sees compliance as essential. He notes that even if he does not sell directly to a vendor, his business is still subject to an audit by that vendor. “It is a selling point if you’ve already complied,” he notes. “If you’re compliant, then you gain a new customer. In a sense, you’re getting paid for the audit, which is expensive. But at some point, everyone will have to do it, and the cost of the audits will be pushed onto the consumer.”
Labor: Relatively Stable
Regarding labor, Sheppard admits skilled workers are hard to find. “We have a group of ladies who do piece work bunching asparagus. They trim it, weigh it, and band it. They make $1,200 a week.” He explains other laborers, with less experience or expertise in packing asparagus, are unable to match such volume and end up barely making minimum wage, “so, it truly is skilled labor.”
Ron Budd, vice president of Woodbury-based Gloucester County Packing Company, says his packing business requires workers year round, not seasonally. Even so, he explains, “We’re always trying to be as efficient as we can—since labor is so expensive.”
Both Budd and Sheppard cite significant investments to reduce payroll expenses: Budd added new automatic packaging machinery which can weigh, bag, and close five- and ten-pound bags. Sheppard bought sophisticated asparagus grading equipment. “It looks at the length, diameter, and at the head—to see if it is seeded or crooked,” he says. The new machine also weighs the asparagus in one-pound increments. “Before, this was all done by hand,” he reflects. “We had 80 people in the packing house and still couldn’t keep up.”
“We use a lot of high-tech equipment,” explains Tim Wetherbee, who works in sales for Diamond Blueberry and is on the New Jersey Blueberry Industry Advisory Council. “We have a computerized color sorter, a soft fruit sorter, a cleaning apparatus, and a picker,” he says. “We only use the picker for processing blueberries, or if we are short on labor.”
And while the state does not suffer from the same type of extreme shortages as other growing regions, labor is not always assured. Wetherbee says they start recruiting in early spring. “We hope for a full complement, but it’s always unknown until harvest time.”
John Molinelli characterizes the labor supply as “good” and says they’ve had no issues this year. “It seems there’s more help around this year compared to last year,” he observes.
FRESH FORUM: In terms of your business, how has 2015 shaped up so far?
Thomas Sheppard, Eastern Fresh Growers
The cold and snow put us behind in our field work. For the lettuce we have in the greenhouse, we may have to pull back a bit by lowering the temperature.
Rod Budd, Gloucester County Packing Company
We’re a little busier than what is typical… The projection for potato growers’ acreage is 2,200 in New Jersey—half is for fresh market, and the other half is processing; this hasn’t changed in five years.
John Molinelli, John Molinelli, Inc.
This year has been really good so far, both with the Jersey items and the out-of-state items we worked with through the winter.
Bill Nardelli, Sr., Nardelli Brothers, Inc.
Very good; we have a Plant City, Florida division that did very well this winter, and the transition to southern Georgia went well too. The quality and pricing this year is exceptional, and the weather is becoming more consistent. The good Lord willing, we may very well have a banner year.
Tim Wetherbee, New Jersey Blueberry Industry Advisory Council
It looks very positive: the weather is cooperative, the bees are active. Crop quality should be excellent. In terms of volume, as long as the weather stays with us, should be somewhere between 55 and 65 million pounds of blueberries.
Ryan Flaim, R&R Flaim Next Generation Produce
Some crops were over-wintered such as dandelions, chards, parsleys, and kale. Greenhouse product also looks great. Our outlook for 2015: high quality, high demand, good supply.
Robert Von Rohr, Sunny Valley International
While it’s too early to tell for our local product, we’ve have had good chill hours and good moisture. Business is good so far—it could be better, but it is good.
Although none of the grower-shippers or wholesalers could predict what was in store, they all look forward to the coming harvests from New Jersey’s verdant fields. They may be competitors, but they share a collaborative spirit. Von Rohr offers, “We wish all growers a good year in 2015.”
