Jay Krichmar: Food safety issue remains top of mind
Jay Krichmar: Food safety issue remains top of mind
VINELAND, NJ — Food safety, always a concern to both the produce industry and to consumers, seems to be more on everyone’s minds these days, according to Jay Krichmar, president of Krichmar Produce Co.
“The general populace seems to be more concerned the last few years with food safety,” Krichmar told The Produce News in early May. “Chainstores are pushing the issue of food safety. And we’re doing everything in our power to comply with all the food-safety regulations.”
He continued, “We’ve been doing it all these years, but now we’re crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s.”
Doing everything it can to ensure a safe food supply is an ongoing issue, but as New Jersey’s 2014 spring produce deal was gearing up in early May, Krichmar Produce was dealing with the same issue as everyone else: a late season on all produce items due to a very tough 2013-14 winter.
“It’s obviously about a month late due to the hectic winter conditions,” said Krichmar, who founded the company here in southern New Jersey 19 years ago. “I’m envisioning a lot of gaps in supply, and there’s going to be a lot of price fluctuations on almost a daily basis — more so than usual.”
He continued, “When the warm weather hits, the whole East Coast could come on at the same time, without the usual windows” for the different growing areas.
“If that happens, prices could stall movement,” he added. “It’s going to be a strange season, just like the winter was.”
However the timing plays out, Krichmar Produce was making a couple of upgrades to its facility to keep things running as smoothly as possible. First, high-speed cooler doors were scheduled to be installed by the end of May. Second, “The whole facility will be painted in about a week, and will take about a week to finish,” he said May 7.
There have been some personnel changes at Krichmar Produce recently. Kenny Krichmar left the company in January and is no longer in the produce industry.
Moises Lozano, who has been with the firm for nine years, has moved up the ranks and is now involved in buying and in sales.
Medio Bassetti, who had been with Krichmar Produce from 2005 to 2008, rejoined the firm in mid-April and will be involved in sales and quality control.
His brother, Brian Bassetti, has been with the company almost since it was founded.
