Gloucester County Packing Corp. is a champion of Jersey Fresh

While the Gloucester County Packing Corp. does not grow its own product, the company works with eight commercial growers in New Jersey, and being able to source the product in its backyard provides a big advantage.

Operating in a 45,000-square-foot facility in Woodbury Heights, NJ, the company packs, distributes and handles potatoes and onions from all over the United States and beyond. 

“Business has been good this year; we’re into the new season and if we’re not busy, something is wrong,” said Ron Budd, vice president of Gloucester County Packing. “All of our local potatoes are going with the red, white, yellow and Russet varieties looking about average. We went through a cool, wet spring in July with above-average temperatures, and that played an effect on the yield of the potatoes. They should have been making better size, but the heat stunted that.”

Maintaining strong relationships with the eight commercial growers is a key part of the company’s success.

“They are business partners as well as friends,” Budd said. “We have multigenerational relationships going back to my grandfather. There’s a certain trust that’s built over the years and you just try and maintain that trust and do the right thing day in and day out.”

Things have changed a lot from his early days in the business.

“Years ago, there were around 20, but as the older generations retired, some of the younger generations went in different directions,” Budd said. “The fortunate thing is even though we have lost a lot of growers over the years, our acreage has remained pretty stable at around 2,000 acres, with our medium-sized farms getting bigger.”

This is a busy season for New Jersey potatoes and Gloucester County Packing Corp. makes the most out of the fall.

“From the middle of July until the end of October, we have something of a niche window for new-crop potatoes,” Budd said. “South of us is pretty much finished up and north of us is just getting started. We’re not the only game in town, but we’re a very competitive player in the potato market on the East Coast.”

The company works with mostly chain stores and big box stores, but has some wholesale and foodservice customers as well.

Gloucester County Packing Corp. is a licensed Jersey Fresh packer of potatoes in the state of New Jersey and is a big proponent of local. In fact, years ago, Budd developed a Jersey Fresh potato bag and that’s been very helpful in the locally grown market.

“Jersey Fresh is a pioneer with the locally grown program and they really sold it to the retailers to support local farmers and buy close to home and save the carbon footprint,” Budd said. “Part of the campaign we have been working on for five years is ‘to know your food, know your farm and know your farmer.’ We have put out a lot of promotional material to show the growers so customers know who is growing the potatoes at the point of sale. You can put a name, a face and place to where the potatoes you are getting came from.”

The company also runs its own trucking division, which Budd called a natural expansion to the distribution network, as it helps to bring product from the farms to its location with its own trucks.