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n CLOSER TO MARKET
During times of escalating freight
costs, the geographic advantage Florida grower-shippers provide retailers and wholesaler buyers helps reduce costs and provides other benefits.
“Decreased time in transit means fresher products, allowing for enhanced shelf life and less shrinkage for the retailer,” says Mindy Lee, Fresh from Florida bureau chief and media and communications manager for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Tallahassee. “Having the ability to ship fresh prod- ucts across the United States and into Canada in a timely manner, while main- taining the highest quality, is a signifi- cant benefit.”
Those freight savings help keep supermarkets competitive, says Mike Roberts, director of produce operations for Harps Food Stores, a Springdale, AR, retailer that operates 87 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Okla-
homa. “It’s very important to source from Florida,” he says. “We are very lucky we can pull from the Southeast and Texas.”
That footprint helps shipments. “The geographic location of Florida makes the stateoneofthebestsourcesoffruitsand vegetables,” says Jeffrey Goodale, director of domestic sales for Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc., based in Oviedo, FL. “The time intransitisreduced,sothisaddsshelflife and freshness at the marketplace.”
Being adjacent to major markets helps smaller shipments. “Having smaller quantities going into major markets results in quicker delivery times, which ultimately distributes the freshest available product at a lower price for customers,” says Goodale. The state’s extended growing season is beneficial to buyers. “It protects against weather challenges and allows buyers to have expanded options,” he explains. “The different soil types and warmer weather during the winter months lend
a hand to growing excellent produce in Florida.”
High freight rates — not temporary spikes — are the new norm, observes Adam Lytch, operations manager of L&M,Raleigh,NC,whichgrowsandships from North and South Florida. “There is no question reduced freight costs from being closer are an advantage, not only regionallyintotheSoutheast,butupthe Atlantic Seaboard, as well,” he says.
Grower-shippers tout the state’s close- ness to East Coast retail buyers. “It’s the freshness,” says Brian Arrigo, president of the Immokalee, FL-based Southern Corporate Packers, Inc., which grows and ships watermelons, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, green beansandothervegetables.“Beingable to get the product picked and packed and to the consumer within one to three days compared to sometimes a week before the products get to store shelves is important.”
92 / OCTOBER 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS