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Ridge Spring, SC. New regulations have increased trucking rates. “South Carolina’s location makes it ideal to service all major markets,” he says. “Fruit can be delivered to major markets in the Northeast, Midwest and the South in only a day or two, providing buyers and customers with fruit that came off the tree only a few days before it hits the shelves. By utilizing Southern fruit, buyers can save an average of $2 to $4 per case of fruit in freight costs versus the West Coast.”
Full trucks or LTLs can be coordinated for next day deliveries to most locations in the East and Midwest.
“Transportation, although difficult at times, is a huge advantage for selling and buying Southern and Eastern peaches,” says Keystone Fruit Marketing’s Blume. “The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions offer many customers on the East Coast and Midwest next-day delivery, and for others, second-day delivery. There are excellent growers in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia, Penn- sylvania and New Jersey. To be able to pick, cool, pack, ship, and deliver all within a few days is ideal for buyers and, most importantly, consumers.” pb
72 / MARCH 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
FLORIDA
As with blueberries, Florida’s niche is being the first to supply U.S. peaches during an absence of fruit. “As Chile finishes in early March, the Florida peach production will be the first domestic area that will start for the year,” says Al Finch, president of Florida Classic Growers in Dundee, FL. “The Florida peach season is sandwiched between when Chile finishes and before other Eastern regions and California peaches start. Florida fills that six- to eight-week gap in the market- place when no peaches are available to consumers.”
Many of Florida’s citrus growers have turned to peaches to diversify their acreage, says Mindy Lee, Fresh from Florida commu- nications and media manager for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Seasonally stretching from Central Florida in March through South Carolina in August, peaches from Florida offer a nearly seamless category available between South and North America,” she says.
Florida peaches’ smaller size and
juicy, flavorful flesh helps distinguish the Sunshine State’s fruit from other regions, says Lee.
Ripened flavor is a key part of the appeal of Florida peaches. “Part of the whole Florida deal is that we come in
ahead of all the other states,” says Alise Edison, vice president and owner of Deer Park Peaches, based in Deer Park, FL, on Florida’s East Coast. “Ours are tree-rip- ened. They don’t get sweeter. Once they come off the tree, they may get softer. We try to go for absolute tree-ripened sweetness. We’re not trying to ship them all over the place.”
Florida peaches are gaining more of a foothold in the marketplace, notes Finch. “Demand has been good,” he says. “Consumers are looking for them in the supermarkets now and are waiting for the season to begin. We are begin- ning to build a loyal following for Florida peaches.” Florida Classic is going into its 10th season of growing and shipping peaches.
With 22 million residents, the Sunshine State remains a key market for Southeast peaches. “Florida, the state, obviously is local,” says Finch. As many people identify local as food miles from where product is harvested, anywhere in the Southeast can almost identify with local Florida peaches into the Deep South,” he says. “Many retail groups support local grown programs. It is important in the state of Florida that Florida peaches are well-rep- resented in the marketplace.” pb