Sunny Valley International has been working with New Jersey fruit for more than 25 years. It has increased production significantly over the years, marketing more than 600,000 boxes of New Jersey blueberries and a half-a-million boxes of New Jersey stone fruit on a yearly basis.

HILLSDALE, NJ — The New Jersey Department of Agriculture hosted the May 24 meeting of the Eastern Produce Council, here, at Demarest Farms, and as is in previous years, Jersey Fresh held a starring role.

Each year, the NJDA uses the event to feature its popular Jersey Fresh marketing program, now in its 38th year, making it the oldest state-sponsored program of its kind.

Two years removed from the deepest clutches of the coronavirus pandemic, Ryan Flaim of R&R Flaim/Flaim Farms says things are looking up for his family-owned business.

“Everything is falling into place nicely so far this year,” he said May 9. “The weather has been favorable this spring, and the foodservice side of the business continues to come back.”

Flaim said he has had increased demand from his customer base, and in response he upped acreage for summer crops eggplant and peppers by around 20 percent each.

Despite a cool start, the Jersey Fresh season looks to be sizzling for Nardelli Bros. “Our Jersey Fresh season is exciting,” said Bill Nardelli, Jr., vice president of sales for the Cedarville, NJ-based company. “We expect a great season with quality products. In the beginning of the season we had a bit of cool weather which slowed us down out of the gate. Recently, we’ve had a warm up, which has been more conducive to these early wet items.”

In January of 2022, the New Jersey legislature did what few states have done, passing a law defining what local means regarding New Jersey fruits and vegetables. In the Garden State, if a retailer labels fresh produce as local, locally grown or implies that it is local using similar language, that product must have been grown in New Jersey. New Jersey consumers can now shop for produce and when they see local, they will know where it was grown.

“This year is shaping up very nicely,” Michael D’Ottavio, president of D’Ottavio Farms, based in Vineland, NJ, said the first week in May. “Even though the weather is a little cooler than normal, everything is growing very nicely this season. I’m seeing a much stronger demand for fruits and vegetables this spring, and we are ready for it.”