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where we can o er a fall, winter and spring crop,” says Brian Arrigo, president of the Immokalee, FL-based Southern Corporate Packers, Inc. “We can have a late crop and be the last ones out or be the rst ones in every year. Weather-permitting, we can go through all the winter in most years.”
Florida’s reputation is strong. “ e Sunshine State ranks high for producing quality fruits andx veggies,” says Ostlund. “Showing the state’s map says it all. Buy domestic, buy a bit of sunshine from the Sunshine State. e state’s own logo, Fresh from Florida, says it all.”
With Florida’s shorter hauls, transporta- tion headaches make sourcing from the state more attractive. “With freight rates rising at least 35 percent, this state becomes even more important because we are closer to the markets,” observes McDonald. “ e trucking deal has really changed since all this e-log.”
e state’s variety of products also helps with transportation, which allows trucks to load multiple items in single stops vs. making multiple stops, says Kiger. “We have a variety of items here, which helps us,” he says. “We have something good down here. We have some of the best-eating quality produce.”
LARGE PRODUCT DIVERSITY
Diversity helps Florida’s reputation. “ e length of the growing season is unique,” says Adam Lytch, operations manager of L&M, Raleigh, NC, which grows and ships from North and South Florida. “Florida is such an important state for fruit and vegetable produc- tion because for many items, it is the longest growing region in the annual cycle of produc- tion and also, for several months, it is the only East Coast and domestic supply for many items.”
Most everything a buyer can think of, and then some, can be produced in Florida. For example, at L&M’s Palatka, FL, farm, it grows cabbage for almost six months of the year. Between its South, Central and North Florida farms, it can ship Florida bell pepper for almost eight months.
Florida’s nearness to the eastern U.S. popu- lation centers has long given grower-shippers an advantage, notes Weis-Buy’s Weisinger. “It’s always been easier out of this state because we’re closer to the terminals,” he says. “People talk about the freshness of the product they had when they grew up in the Midwest. We have that same quality and freshness of prod- ucts here in Florida. It’s the same taste and quality as what they remember growing up.”
state, the winter attracts many more people as well, which also correlates to the growing season. at large local push spills into the rest of the Southeast and up the East Coast where regional or domestic supply remains important to many customers, says Lytch. Also, the diver- sity of items that can be o ered or featured is favorable because it allows retailers to create larger Fresh from Florida areas or local space in the stores, he says.
“It (the long growing season) makes it easier for buyers because they don’t have to
worry about transitions as often and know where the product is coming from,” says Lytch. Other states in which L&M and other grower-shippers operate also produce and are just as critical during those speci c supply windows, but their seasons are much shorter than Florida’s, he says.
STRONG REPUTATION
Whether it be fresh cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, green beans for Easter, new crop potatoes for Memorial Day or yellow
As Florida is now the third most-populated
PRODUCE BUSINESS / OCTOBER 2018 / 93