“We got back into tomatoes after we saw a need for it and requests from some of our retailers — in the New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore areas, as well as the New England market — to once again offer locally-grown, fresh, upscale and vine-ripe tomatoes. It is working out extremely well,” he said.
In addition to tomatoes, Nardelli expects great things from his eggplant, green and yellow squash and green bean crops this fall. He then expects a healthy and normal transition into the wet commodities like green, red and savoy cabbage and green leaf, red leaf, romaine and escarole lettuce from September until around Thanksgiving. Parsley, leeks and cilantro will round out the fall program. “All the cooking greens get popular as the weather cools,” he noted.
Nardelli said that the three seasons in New Jersey — spring, summer and fall — are each a new beginning for the various commodities that his farm produces in New Jersey.
“It has been a good season thus far, though the hot and dry weather has been a challenge throughout,” he said, adding that recent storms have helped. “Costs have been elevated because of additional irrigation costs, but we believe that we will be able to keep costs competitive and will be able to attract new business and allow our consumers to continue to enjoy our fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Now, we are just hoping for good, solid weather through the fall and with Mother Nature permitting, we should have a very good crop. The good news is that the fall usually produces more consistent weather that makes for a better growing season.”
Nardelli said that the focus is on marketing and merchandising to the local population right now. “This time of the season there is an adequate supply of domestic production so there is no need to purchase imported fruits and vegetables,” he said. “We want to see the American consumer take advantage of what is home grown. Our food supply is critical to the economy of the country and we cannot have it controlled by someone other than family farms located in our own country.”
Nardelli does note that the company’s marketing strategy helps too. Nardelli’s Fresher by Miles trademarked slogan serves to remind both retailers and consumers that the farm is close to many major population hubs in the northeast and mid-Atlantic and Nardelli’s own fleet of trucks can get products to retail shelves and the consumers overnight.
“The other thing is that for 40 years we have supported and are proud to be part of the Jersey Fresh marketing program,” he added. “Our New Jersey state Department of Agriculture has done a great job of promoting our state’s products and enhancing the growers in our state. There are more than 100 different commodities grown in the Garden State and Jersey Fresh gets the message out to consumers about what New Jersey offers. Together, we continue to promote fresh fruits and vegetables from New Jersey for consumers.”
