Smith’s Farm hitting its stride in Georgia

Smith’s Farm made its name as a broccoli grower in Maine, but as its business grew it needed more production to keep up with retail clients’ needs for year-round product.

The company eventually added acreage in the Southeast to supplement its supply, and Georgia has emerged as one of the key regions for the company.

“Georgia plays an important role for us to be able to have a year-round supply of broccoli and cauliflower,” said Tara Smith Vighetti, president of Smith’s Farm Sales. “It bookends our Florida production in the fall and spring, and we’ve seen stand-out quality from Georgia.”

Smith Vighetti acknowledged that it can be challenging to grow broccoli and cauliflower in the Southeast, as weather can be unpredictable. “But this year, I am feeling bullish about Georgia,” she said. “We have some really strong momentum heading into the season, and credit goes to our fabulous growing partners who do such a great job.”

This Fall, Smith and its Georgia partner, Baker Farms had the opportunity to onboard a new partner together. The new broccoli production was close enough to established partner, Baker, but far enough to add a risk mitigator geographically staggering seasonal transitions to help manage what would be potential supply gaps.

“This arrangement allowed us to leverage Baker’s learnings to share knowledge-base and post-harvest resources while also giving us volume availability up to 2 weeks earlier in the Fall. It’s amazing how the nuance of location, varieties, schedules and availability of ground can make so much difference.” she said. “We are seeing more of these opportunities come along as our experience in this region grows. The right partners are everything and we need each other to compete for business especially at retail where they count on a reliable year-round supply.”

Smith Vighetti said from a demand standpoint, shrink-wrapped bunches and crowns are more popular than ever and its partnerships in Georgia have helped Smith maintain the ability to supply those packs. The impacts on POS marketability as well as improved shelf-life on these items have seen them pick up steam.

She said sustainability also remains at the forefront of its business. More and more innovation in packaging has led to continued movement to more sustainable options. One of the more recent nods toward sustainability has been the adoption of recyclable plastic cartons for field packing.

“It’s more functional and finally as affordable, or cheaper, than wax corrugated boxes, which are not recyclable. The plastic cartons can be used with ice and iceless product. In the south in the Springtime we can see more intense field heat so going into the hydrocooler in the plastic carton helps cool product very quickly, which extends shelf life — then we have so many options from there,” she said. “It’s a win-win-win situation because the cartons can be recycled, shelf life is extended and you have a happier customer.”