Nunes Co. promotes fresh and healthy to pull through volume

Entering another season has Salinas, Calif.-based The Nunes Co. Inc. leaning on its strong commodities and unique shipping capabilities.

The Nunes Co. is a family-owned shipper of conventional and organic fresh vegetables. The company sells products domestically and globally under the Foxy and Foxy Organic brands.

Foxy-brand produce is grown on more than 22,000 acres, with third- and fourth-generation Nunes family members at the helm these days. 

The company has a handful of commodities that are key to its business.

“Items that have done especially well in the past year include romaine, romaine hearts, broccoli and cauliflower,” said Stephanie Cantero, Nunes' communications and marketing coordinator. “Also important to our business is the ability to load both organic and conventional vegetables, along with strawberries from Nunes Cooling in the Salinas Valley. It helps relieve our customer’s freight costs.”

This is a season of high supply. In this situation, the company leans more into its retailer relationships.

“Retailers can promote fresh healthy produce during times of high production,” Cantero said. “We do this by working closely with our retail customers to pass savings onto consumers to increase the consumption of fresh, healthy vegetables.”

Overall, the company’s program will be similar to last year with a slight increase in acres. Cantero said the start of spring 2022 quality looks good and better in comparison to the start of 2021.

“The highlights of our marketing plan for the next three months include more billboards across the country than in 2021,” Cantero said. “Our marketing plan will continue to include social media outreach and more digital advertising.”

Coming into a new season, Nunes Co. officials are feeling positive about the fresh produce outlook. 

“We are optimistic because the demand for field-fresh vegetables continues to increase,” Cantero said. “We help meet that demand with our products. We also have a large group of talented individuals within our company to help move our business into the future.”

As positive as the big picture is, there are still concerns and challenges moving into the 2022 season, though. 

“Cost increases in all areas have been a challenging aspect of business," Cantero said. “Along with most of the industry, increases in the cost of labor, water, land rent, fertilizer, seed and insurance continue to be a challenge.”