Consumers snap up organic vegetables

There’s been no slowdown in the popularity of organic vegetables.

Doral, Fla.-based Alpine Fresh has seven core products, three of which are in the vegetable category — asparagus, Brussels sprouts and beans — said Chris Elmer, vice president of sales.

They’re available organically and conventionally.

“Our goal is that every one of those items has an organic program 52 weeks a year,” Elmer said.

The company has been in the asparagus business for more than 30 years.

“The demand for organic asparagus has been outstanding,” Elmer said. “We are annually adding new growers and expanding our production.”

The organic Brussels sprouts program from Alpine Fresh currently runs for about nine months, but it should expand in 2023 with the addition of a Central Mexico program.

French beans from Guatemala and Mexico help ensure year-round supplies of that commodity.

It’s been an “OK” summer at Alpine Fresh so far, not a record-breaking one, Elmer said.

He attributed the slow period, in part, to consumers traveling once again and leaving for vacations after staying home for an extended period because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business should jump in the fall, when consumers pick up the company’s vegetables for winter meals and holidays gatherings, he said.

Up to 15% of the items at Alpine Fresh are organically grown.

“We’re aggressively growing yearly,” Elmer said.

Late summer, fall vegetables

Green onions and kale are the most popular organic items from Oxnard, Calif.-based Boskovich Farms Inc. during the late summer and fall, said Michael Boskovich, who handles organic sales.

“Green onions have really gained momentum lately,” he said.

About 15% of the company’s volume is organically grown, he said, which is up about 10% from five or 10 years ago.

Boskovich said he expected organic volume to increase during the fall/winter months.

Consumption of sprouts is on the rise, and that includes organic sprouts, said Olivia Wong, CEO of Miami-based Fullei Fresh.

Organic broccoli sprouts, for example, are the company’s highest-selling organic item, she said.

The Fullei Fresh organic product line also includes alfalfa/clover sprouts, mung bean sprouts, sprouted garbanzo beans, wheatgrass and crunch mix (mung beans, red and green lentils, green peas and adzuki).

Organic produce accounts for 32% of the company’s volume, she said.

Wong said she expected the company’s 2022 organic volume to increase over last year.

Inflation doesn’t seem to have impacted sprout sales, but she said Fullei Fresh has had to increase its prices because suppliers have raised theirs.

More organic offerings

New Sprout Organic Farms in Asheville, N.C., is “super active in the mountains of western North Carolina,” said Bridget Kennedy, director of sales and grower relations.

That’s where the company can grow greens such as kale, dandelions, leaf lettuces and fennel through the summer.

New Sprout also offers a variety of organic tomatoes, including grape tomatoes, heirlooms, round tomatoes and Mountain Magic cocktail salad tomatoes.

In the fall, the company will source items such as squash, eggplant, peppers, leafy greens, cabbage, hard squashes and broccoli from eastern North Carolina.

“We have a huge fall season ahead of us,” Kennedy said.

Hurricanes can affect coastal farms in their paths, but they also can have an impact on the western part of the state, where there are many rivers, mountainous terrain and flooding events, Kennedy said.

“We plant a ton of product in the field and hope that we get through hurricane season unscathed,” she said.

The company is a certified organic grower that sources from a network of 11 farms that grow on about 2,000 acres, she said.

New Sprout’s customers are mostly retailers, distributors and some foodservice operators.

Organic vegetable growers are confident that their business won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

“There is opportunity for growth, especially in Midwestern states that may not be large consumers of organic produce currently,” Boskovich said.

The organic category in general is experiencing “very steady growth,” Elmer said.

The category has outpaced conventional growth for the past three or four years, he said.

“I don’t see any reason why that won’t continue.”

Kennedy also was optimistic that demand for organics is going to continue to grow.

“We believe strongly in Southeastern organic production,” she said.

“People are becoming more informed about the difference between organic and conventional agriculture,” she said. “And people have become more hypersensitive to their diet and their general health.”