TAMPA, FL - Florida is synonymous with heat, and our industry is known for bringing it. That’s why Southern Exposure brought out the best of the best last month, ringing in innovations left and right. I had the pleasure of speaking with Carl Mastronardi, President of DelFrescoPure®, who talked to me about both the greenhouse grower’s new strawberry program and where it’s headed next.
“We’re continuing our new product programs and we’re really proud of our strawberries,” Carl shared with me. “This year, we’ve increased our production [of strawberries] up 30-40 percent with the same amount of space. They’ve been a huge hit; about 80 percent of the chain stores in Canada are buying our strawberries and we’re starting to make dents in the United States. It’s a really clean product since we never use conventional pesticides.”
On top of its booming strawberry program, the greenhouse grower is dialing up on its organic programs, too, upping productions on organic sweet rainbow peppers, mini cucumbers, and red grape tomatoes.
“We’re probably going to double up our current organic program every year to meet the demands of the retailers. Everybody’s asking us for more organics every year. Currently, we have nearly 16 acres under lights, and we are developing a program that, in four years, will be completely lit, so we can have year-round fresh produce from our location,” Carl noted.
As we got into the nitty-gritty of program expansions, I had to ask Carl what he loves most about this industry, and he did not disappoint.
“We’re always changing, we’re always evolving, and we’re always learning. If we’re offered a challenge by the retailers, we’ll try it,” he reflected.
You heard it here, folks! The greenhouse visionaries at DelFrescoPure are ready to tackle any challenge.
To see the rest of our exclusive video interview, please watch above.
