Nardelli Lake View Farms excited for fall season

As a fifth-generation family member working for Nardelli Lake View Farms, Bill Nardelli Jr., vice president of sales, is thrilled to be carrying on such a strong legacy.

After all, the Nardellis have been providing field-to-fork produce services for more than a century and Nardelli Bros. Inc.- Lake View Farms continues to be a force in the produce industry.

The company grows and ships produce that it grows on its own large farms located in Southern New Jersey, operating out of Cedarville, NJ.

It also offers cooling operations, packing and shipping and delivery and transportation services.  

“My family has been part of Jersey Fresh since its inception and all our products are tagged with that; it was one of the first state programs to do a big marketing job for their growers in the state,” Nardelli said. “The Jersey Fresh program has been really great this year, with a lot of advertisements and promotions.

New Jersey has always been a great location for the products the company grows, and being in close proximity to a lot of major cities has helped the company thrive. Being involved with Jersey Fresh has also been a boon to the company.

“We typically say we have three growing seasons in New Jersey — our spring for wet items, our summer for dry items and then we go back to wet items in the fall all the way through Thanksgiving,” Nardelli said. “We have a big deal on greens, cilantro, parsley, lettuces, cabbages, dill, radishes and more.”

This year, mild spring weather has been conducive to a lot of the company’s wet items, and there was good demand on a lot of the line. As for dry markets, the company saw some good pricing for most of the items as well the past few months.

“We already put some of our fall items in the ground and will continue to plant over the next few weeks,” Nardelli said in mid-August. “It’s been a really warm summer, and we haven’t had a lot of rain, so we’re hoping for a good fall season. Things are looking good, and we should be on schedule for a September and October harvest for all the wet items.”

A lot of the regions north and west of New Jersey have had a later start than usual, which has led to more demand on some items, and Nardelli Lake View Farms has taken advantage of that.

“There wasn’t as much overlap between regions, so that has been a positive,” Nardelli said. “Our retail partners have been steady with their demand. Markets have been good and demand has been good.”

The biggest advantage of working in New Jersey, Nardelli noted, is the long growing season.

“We start in March and go all the way through Thanksgiving,” he said. “Our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware Bay has been a big advantage and allows us to go later into the season. We’re also very close to a lot of the big cities.”

Another reason for the company’s success is its retail partners do an excellent job promoting the fall items.

“We do a big deal on all the greens leading up to Thanksgiving, which is a big holiday for us,” Nardelli said. “A lot of our retail partners do a great job promoting local growers, whether through signage or meet-the-grower programs. People like to meet and interact with the growers. Consumers are getting more interested in that and we try to do that as much as we can.”