CASTROVILLE, CA - Now is the time to be pushing artichokes, says Ocean Mist Farms, as Mother Nature brings us a fresh, attractive crop deeper into the summer than usual.
“Volume is up due in large part to the erratic weather we’ve had,” the company’s Artichokes Commodity Manager, Bob Polovneff, shares with me. “Now that we have had a number of higher temperature days the crop is coming around beautifully.”
The season kicked off to a late start due to that tumultuous weather, but has since brought promotable volumes as of late June and early July, especially for the Jumbo- and Large-sized artichokes.
“Quality at this time of the year is excellent and will continue to be excellent for a while,” Bob tells me, sharing that the current strength of Ocean Mist’s artichokes is set to last for at least six more weeks. Perfect for the remainder of the grilling season.
“The artichoke is a wonderful addition to a summer plate, whether consumers are grilling or simply sitting around the table with the family,” Bob shares. “The artichoke is amazing for outdoor cooking promotions. We’ve set up discussions with a few of our key retailers focusing on using the excellent sizing and quality to bring in more shoppers.”
In fact, though artichoke demand has traditionally slowed for the summer months in previous years, the strength and attractiveness of the late crop has been helping boost consumer desire for the plant.
“Artichoke demand usually tapers off in the summer, but we have been seeing rising demand as a result of our ability to offer quality product and attractive pricing,” Bob says.
With these promotable volumes around for just a month and a half more, Ocean Mist Farms is looking to spread the word on these POS tactics and see artichokes further boost retailers’ ring at the register. Interested parties can contact the Ocean Mist Farms Sales Team at (831) 633-2144 for further details.
