Jersey Fresh: The Freshest for 40 Years

You know what your customers want when it comes to fruits and vegetables… they want FRESHNESS. For 40 years, the Jersey Fresh quality grading and marketing program has been the way for customers to find the freshest produce.

New Jersey is known as the Garden State for good reason — our farmers produce over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables and rank in the Top 10 in production of eggplant, squash, peaches, peppers, blueberries, cranberries, asparagus… the list goes on. Our microclimates and great soils combined with the dedication of New Jersey’s farmers and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety team all combine to assure you of the freshest, most flavorful, and safe produce you can offer your customers.

By offering Jersey Fresh products to your customers, you provide them with assurances of quality and freshness. Products bearing our brand are subject to quality grading to assure they meet U.S. No. 1 or better standards. This is a brand that has millions of dollars of investment behind it over the years. Customers recognize and appreciate the association of Jersey Fresh and quality.

The NJDA has already begun social media campaigns promoting weekly availability reports of early crops and forecasting the coming harvest. If you would like to be added to the weekly availability report distribution list, please email [email protected] and each Monday, you’ll receive an update.

Our early season digital billboards along some of the country’s most heavily traveled roadways have already been making appearances. These digital boards allow us to quickly update messaging and promote products that are available each week throughout the harvest season. This wide net approach allows us to create awareness and generate tens of millions of driver impressions.

To reinforce the billboard messaging, seasonal products will be featured in radio spots on terrestrial radio in English and in Spanish again this season. These messages will change weekly to highlight different crops as they come to market and to reinforce our messaging. The spots allow us to reach people in a more traditional way during traffic and weather reports when they are more inclined to pay attention to commercial breaks.

This season will also see bus posters on densely populated routes in New Jersey and into the NYC market in both English and Spanish throughout the heart of the growing season.

In addition to summer being Jersey Fresh season, it also means millions of visitors to our Jersey Shore. While people bask on our pristine beaches, whether it be for a day or an extended stay, Jersey Fresh will be reaching consumers. We plan to have a Jersey Fresh airplane banner flown from the top of shore at Sandy Hook to the southernmost tip of Cape May every weekend this summer. This messaging will reach consumers from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania as they visit our number one tourist attraction. These banners will dovetail with three promotional event days along the boardwalks in Seaside Heights, Atlantic City and Wildwood.

And, we will continue to reach out to buyers through our Eastern Produce Council event, and many trade shows including the New England Produce Council show in Boston, the International Fresh Produce Association show in Atlanta, the New York Produce Show in December and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association Show in Montreal in April 2025. Please find us there, we’d love to see you.

This mixed-media approach is designed to drive consumers to grocery retailers and other hubs for Jersey Fresh products throughout the growing season. And because your consumers will be looking for local Jersey Fresh, the NJDA will continue to offer our point-of-purchase banners, aprons, hats, bin wraps and price cards so that you can identify your displays of the Jersey Fresh products they will be demanding. Please contact my office at (609) 913-6520 for POP materials.

New Jersey’s farmers grow all this goodness just minutes or hours away from tens of millions of consumers…your customers. Reach out to your favorite Garden State growers today to provide your customers with what they want. Jersey Fresh. The Freshest for 40 years!