Officials at Consalo Family Farms see a bright spring ahead
Officials at Consalo Family Farms see a bright spring ahead
Thanks to a cooperative Mother Nature, who has been very kind to growers across New Jersey thus far this spring, officials at Consalo Family Farms can barely hide their excitement for what is ahead in coming months.
“Spring marks the official start of our Jersey Fresh program, making it an important time for us,” said Chelsea Consalo, the president at the Vineland, NJ-based company that has been providing produce to consumers for over 98 years. “This has been an incredible spring in terms of weather. Pollination has been successful for blueberries with many sunny and warm days for the bees. The berries are sizing up well, and we should be starting on time, if not early.
“As far as herbs, cooking greens, lettuces, and other vegetables, we had pleasant weather for planting and were able to start harvesting in the middle of April,” she said.
Consalo said that the company’s long and successful history as well as a tremendous work ethic throughout the operation continues to play major roles in its prosperity. “We are very fortunate to have continued to build and grow our family business since the 1920’s,” she noted. “Many farms in New Jersey like ours are owned and operated by families that have been in the agriculture business for generations. Family pride, industry knowledge and commitment to farming make New Jersey farms excel at producing quality product year after year.
“The Jersey Fresh program has been an incredible asset to our farm in marketing all of our products,” Consalo continued. “Being part of it strengthens our farm’s visibility.”
Is Consalo doing anything different this year than in the recent past?
“Lettuce is one of our important spring crops and we will be harvesting red leaf, green leaf, iceberg, romaine, along with romaine hearts,” Consalo noted. “Our packaged romaine hearts are a new item available this season. This was an opportunity to design eye-catching packaging and we will be offering this item both organic and conventional. Another exciting addition at Consalo Family Farms is our mixed and French radishes. They are becoming increasingly popular and we are eager to continue to plant new items that retailers are interested in like this.”
Consalo added that it has always been the goal at Consalo Family Farms to stay closely connected with its retail partners and consumers who have come to rely on its produce to feed their families. “We understand how important it is to deliver what today’s consumers are looking for,” she said. “We have continued to increase our acreage to make new offerings possible year after year.”
She also stressed how very proud everyone at the company is to be recognized for their efforts. This year, in April, Consalo Family Farms received the Partnership Appreciation Award from Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in the Food Parter Category. “Each year, Second Harvest recognizes partners in every category of food bank operations. In partnership with Harris Teeter, we launched the Mandarins Making a Difference Campaign in which we donated over 100,000 pounds of fresh mandarins to Second Harvest,” Consalo said. “Mobile pantries were set up at schools in the Carolina area and we were very proud of the distribution of our Little Smoochies mandarins.
“It has been an honor to work alongside Kay Carter, the CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, whose leadership reminds me of the power of compassion in action,” Consalo continued. “I am so proud that Consalo Family Farms is a partner of Second Harvest and we will continue to support in any way we can. We launched our Mandarins Making a Difference campaign in 2024 and have already made an incredible impact.”
