Fresh & Plentiful

Flaim acknowledges complying with food safety regulations is time intensive, but adds that food safety programs are “crucial to ensure the safety of all vegetable and fruit consumers.”

For many grower-shippers, receivers, and brokers, food safety is nothing new. Thomas Sheppard, president of Cedarville-based Eastern Fresh Growers, Inc., says, “We’ve been doing food safety for a long time. Being in early on bagged salads put us ahead of the curve.”

Conclusion
Vibrant as South Jersey’s produce industry is, it is not without challenges. Industry consolidation, tough food safety mandates, and improving accessibility make for a complex environment.

Despite these hurdles, the future of South Jersey’s produce is one of all-star status. Its optimum geographic position equals an ever-growing variety of crops. Mixed with its enormous consumer base—from locals, to the Eastern Seaboard, to Canada, and beyond—the Garden State is a good place to be in the fresh produce industry.