“Please be patient,” said Bill Nardelli Sr., the patriarch and president of Nardelli Lake View Farms. “Mother Nature has dealt us a tough hand in Florida this year.”

Due to a rainy season in Florida — even before a couple of hurricanes hit the state in September and October — Nardelli said his company’s business was impacted enough that it could cause some temporary shortages of produce items from the Sunshine State later in the year.

Smith’s Farm, a leading grower-shipper of broccoli and cauliflower, with operations that span the East Coast from Maine down to Florida, is marking a quarter of a century growing broccoli in the Sunshine State.

Consistency.

It is fair to say that more than three decades of offering retailers and consumers a quality line of product on a regular basis has paid off nicely for Southern Specialties.

Now officials at the Pompano Beach, FL-based company, which offers more than 250 SKUs, are ready, willing and able to focus on the future by remembering how they got here.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) supports Florida growers with the widely recognized “Fresh From Florida” brand.

The Fresh From Florida pavilion, which will offer samples from more than 30 Florida-based produce companies, will be located in booth No. C2047 at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce & Floral show.

Having a bit more patience with produce from Florida should pay off nicely, according to officials at R.C. Hatton Farms. In fact, what started out as a relatively light season probably due to some rainy and cold weather in the state over the winter months, could turn into a very strong one come late April and May and the industry should be prepared.