Braga Fresh gears up for fall

Soledad, Calif.-based Braga Fresh Family Farms plans to extend its Josie’s Organics Cut Veg product line by late October with an organic riced cauliflower option, said Heather Fuller, senior sales manager.

The company’s organic romaine, green leaf and red leaf lettuce crops as well as organic lacinato and red kale are scheduled to start by mid-September, she said.

Green kale is available now, and a strong organic celery program is planned for fall.

Sweet baby broccoli is available year-round.

Sales of the company’s newest organic commodity, purple baby broccoli, are expected to ramp up significantly by mid-March, she added.

Braga Fresh already was anticipating the seasonal transition from the Salinas, Calif., area to its desert growing region in California’s Imperial Valley for its Josie’s Organics brand product line, said Peter Cling, senior vice president of operations.

Broccoli and cauliflower are scheduled to start harvest in the desert in early December.

“We are also planning to have a longer overlap than normal given the COVID situation and have product in both areas for the Christmas season and strong early January demand,” Cling said.

Other desert start dates include spring mix and spinach in late October; romaine and romaine hearts, Nov. 1; iceberg, mid-November; bunching greens (kales), early to mid-November; cabbage, early December; and celery, late December/early January in Yuma, Ariz.

On the personnel side, the company has named a new vice president of operations and welcomed a new member to its sales team.

Colby Pereira, the new vice president of operations, has an extensive background in farming, harvesting and food safety and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in agricultural business with a minor in crop science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Jason Duran joined the Braga Fresh seals team in late July, Fuller said.

Duran is an expert in the organic produce industry, having spent more than 20 years at Whole Foods Market, she said.

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