“We are still going strong with yellow and white flesh peaches and nectarines out of New Jersey, and should be shipping through mid- to late-September,” said Tom Beaver, director of sales and marketing for the Glassboro, NJ-based company. “Late fruit is of excellent quality, with consistent sizing, color and sugar content. Our goal is to continue our retail programs with our retailer partners throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic. We have good promotions in place and intend to keep stone fruit at the forefront of in-store displays through much of the month of September.”

Soon, the company will begin its Jersey Fruit fresh cranberry program, which has been a small but hugely successful program for Sunny Valley.

“The cranberries are produced by Shamong, NJ-based Whalen Farms, which is also an outstanding producer of New Jersey blueberries,” Beaver said. “We market these cranberries as the ‘local’ option for retailers throughout the Mid-Atlantic. We should have good supplies of excellent quality cranberries from October through the Thanksgiving holiday. So far, the weather has cooperated, which should translate to fruit with excellent size and the consistent red color that customers are looking for.”

The cranberry crop is expected to be up 15-20 percent over last year, due in part to the cooperative weather so far.

“Last year’s crop was also somewhat light, which typically means a bigger crop in the following year for cranberries,” Beaver said. “Quality should be terrific. Ample sunlight, limited precipitation and the unseasonably cool evenings we’re experience right now, very atypical for August, generally means phenomenal fruit that checks all of the boxes: size, heartiness, color and taste.”

The majority of Sunny Valley’s fresh cranberries are packed and shipped in its Jersey Fruit poly bag. The bag has unique graphics with a viewing window that ensures the beautiful fruit is the star of the show. 

“We are also underway with our imported blueberry program,” Beaver said. “We are receiving conventional and organic blueberries from Peru now in increasing volume. We are handling excellent new varieties with the outstanding size, full bloom and crunchiness that our retailer partners are demanding. We will have regular availability of Peruvian fruit from now through early 2026 and will transition after the New Year to our Chilean program, ensuring continuity of supply from August through March.”

Like all other importers, Sunny Valley is navigating the new landscape of tariffs. So far, it has added some layers of extra work but has not had a direct impact on inbound volume or shipping regularity.

Sunny Valley works primarily with major retailers up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest.

“We also have some terrific high-end wholesale and food service partners,” Beaver said. “This helps us to ensure a diverse customer base. In general, we approach our customer relationships like a true partnership. We understand that it’s our job to solve problems for our customers. We do this by ensuring they have the products they need when they need them, identifying ideal windows for promotions and having a diversified portfolio of offerings that allows our partners to capitalize on domestic fruit promotions and imported fruit promotions.”