HAMMONTON, NJ — The long winter of 2013-14 was affecting everyone who handles New Jersey produce, setting back harvesting dates of virtually all items. As a result, there were only a few produce items from New Jersey on hand at Frank Donio Inc. when The Produce News visited the company Thursday, May 8: asparagus, Boston lettuce, dandelion, and a little spinach.

Company Vice President Bob Donio said simply, “We’re late. We’re going to be late.” However, he added, “Other than the cool weather, everything else was OK. It’s just that everything’s late.”

But the effects of the late start to the Jersey season could be felt for a while as the season progresses. “I think you’re going to see product come in waves,” he said. “A bunch of product, then gaps; a bunch of product, then gaps.”

Asked if supply could catch up later in the season, Donio replied, “It might. We have plenty of moisture. If it gets warm and stays warm, you’re going to see product pretty quickly.”

Dealing with Mother Nature is always part of the equation, of course, for anyone involved with agriculture. While last year’s Jersey deal started pretty much according to historical norms, it too experienced weather problems.

“The [2013] Jersey deal had issues with rain and other weather [problems],” said Donio. “But we’re very diversified, so 2013 was still a good year for us.”

Regarding one construction project, the company had hoped last year to begin the process of putting in a new sales office at its facility here, but it has pushed back the starting date.

“We’re hoping to start sometime in August,” said Donio. “We pushed it back by one year.” If construction starts this summer as now planned, “We could be in by spring 2015,” he stated. “It’s a definite go this year.”

On the subject of offices, Donio noted that the company, a grower, shipper and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables headquartered here in southern New Jersey, also maintains two other offices: one in Nogales, AZ, and the other in San Diego.

The Nogales office has been operating for about 20 years, he noted, while the San Diego office has been operating for about six years. Both locations serve the western area of the United States.

Asked if the company is considering opening additional offices, Donio replied, “There are tentative plans to open an office in Florida,” but added, “That’s still in the very early stages.” If that did happen, he said that the most likely location would be southern Florida, “probably the eastern coast,” perhaps around the Boca Raton area. Asked if the company had any specific timeframe in mind, he said that such an opening “might happen as early as this winter.”

On the personnel front, Al DeColli joined the company around May 1 in the repack and production areas, and Windy Ruggiano joined the company back in February in the area of data entry and sales assistance.