Market Fresh’s expedites Vidalia field-to-fork period
Market Fresh’s expedites Vidalia field-to-fork period
To maximize quality and shelf life, Market Fresh Produce, LLC, is expediting its operation to move its Vidalia onions from field to fork, according to Tyler Phipps.
Market Fresh has its business office in Nixa, MO. Phipps is the general manager of the firm’s Monett operation, which opened in November.
On March 11, he told The Produce News that Market Fresh growing partners this season will have an increased labor force to “get them out of the ground quicker and go from field to fork in less time. We feel good about our process improvement this year.”
That process also involves the hiring of an additional agronomist to work with the Vidalia grower-partners.
As with its other fresh produce items, Market Fresh will have national distribution of Vidalia onions. The firm introduced a new logo last summer. The logo has been widely used on almost all of the company’s other commodities, including sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Now Vidalia onions will bear the new “Market Fresh”-brand logo.
Phipps said his grower-partners will have about a five to ten percent increase in acreage this Vidalia onion season.
“Things are looking really, really good now,” although he cautioned that adverse weather potentially could still be a problem.
But, approaching mid-March, “the crop is really healthy. We will start harvest seven to ten days earlier than we have the last couple of years.”
This means Market Fresh growers plan to begin harvest in the timeframe of April 10-13.
Other Vidalia growers may start a little later, he added.
As to the Monett warehouse, it has multiple functions. It is a tomato repacking facility, a ripening service and a re-distribution center.
In an interview last fall, Phipps told The Produce News that Monett will service a business circle in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Tennessee. “Our area has a lot of opportunities. There is demand for the services we provide.”
Monett will repack tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and peppers. “Those are our key commodities. We will potentially repack more. We will listen to our customers and that will dictate the next move.”