NEW YORK STATE — After such a rollercoaster in 2020, the state’s growers, shippers and marketers don’t know what to expect for 2021.
But they’re bracing for dips in retail business as consumers flood into restaurants and institutions reopened for in-person dining.
“I was very concerned that we couldn’t produce the high level of sales that we generated in 2020, and indeed we are lower, but it is not the decrease I feared,” said Paulette Satur, founder and CEO of Satur Farms, Cutchogue, in the North Fork of Long Island. Cold storage and shipping facilities are nearby in Calverton.
Many farmers were worried last year, but most New York vegetable growers did fine or a little better by focusing on supplying retailers, said Brian Reeves, president of the New York State Vegetable Growers Association.
“And those USDA and Nourish New York food boxes definitely saved a lot of us,” Reeves said. “It didn’t get prices through the roof, but it strengthened prices.”
Instead of lowering prices too much to unload that extra supply, farmers were able to sell to those food-box programs, which helped keep the market steady, he said.
The Nourish New York program was given a $25 million infusion in March 2021 — for a total of $85 million since the COVID-19 pandemic began — to continue the rest of the year.
The program enables emergency food providers to buy surplus product from New York farmers and dairy manufacturers and deliver it to families in need statewide.
Satur Farms was shocked at first when restaurants closed for indoor dining because foodservice was about half of its business.
But Satur said they sought new retail partners and had more business from current retail partners.
“We were thrilled to have our current retail customers increase their purchases dramatically. It has always been a huge benefit being located on the doorstep of the most densely populated region in the country,” she said. “When the supply chain broke with the increased demand during the pandemic, our customers had instant access to all our produce with same-day pickups and deliveries.”
Even now that restaurants — those that survived — are fully reopened, Satur Farms is continuing to support this newly expanded customer base of retailers.
The unpredictability of 2020 and early 2021 made many growers and marketers anxious, but those federal and state food box programs really did help, said Shannon Kyle, sales and marketing manager at Torrey Farms, Elba.
“The market for seconds is still going. It will be interesting to see if they can find a home and to see how well the foodservice industry will bounce back,” Kyle said.
For this western New York grower, Canada and Mexico are the biggest competitors.
Close proximity to dense populations and speed are the selling points. Torrey Farms’ produce truck can arrive at the state’s southernmost and very urban end in as few as six hours sometimes.
“With onions, we can get to 70% of the U.S. population overnight. We’ve got to be ready to move quickly. Being able to react and move quickly has been a big part of our business,” Kyle said.
At Turek Farms, King Ferry, the vegetable volume was low and demand high in 2020.
“Last year, we were hesitant to plant because we didn’t know if we’d have the H-2A labor and if they’d get through the border and if people would have money to buy it, but we were wrong,” said Jason Turek, partner.
Cayuga Produce is the marketing arm for Turek Farms, which is part of SM Jones and Co. in Belle Glade, Fla., a partnership of South Florida farmers.
SM Jones is like the canary in the coal mine for Turek up north for how the season will go.
“And so far this year, it’s been average at best. I think people are finally getting out of the house and doing things other than cooking at home, and it shows,” Turek said.