Jun 2, 2011

Wishnatzki Farms re-brands for consumers

Florida’s Wishnatzki Farms had its humble beginnings on the streets of New York City in the 1920s, when Harris Wishnatzki sold produce from a pushcart. In the later part of that decade, he traveled to Plant City, Fla., to meet with strawberry buyers, fell in love with the area and decided to stay.

Gary Wishnatzki runs the company these days, and it’s now the largest shipper of strawberries in Florida. It has more than 2,000 acres of strawberries, with partners across the country and in Chile. The company packs for more than 100 growers across the United States and Chile, and ships about 3.5 million flats of strawberries, 6 million pounds of blueberries and 1 million packages of vegetables a year.
Last year, Wishnatzki Farms launched its new consumer brand, Wish Farms, featuring Misty the Garden Pixie. The purpose is to give consumers a memorable icon.

Making a hit

Wishnatzki believes in being a leader. Take, for example, the recent addition of pesticide residue-free blueberries. Wish Farms is the only shipper in the country to have blueberries approved by Scientific Certification Systems, a third-party organization that certifies environmental and safety claims, Wishnatzki said.

The process of pesticide residue-free certification, previously called NutriClean, involves field sampling and lab testing to guarantee no detectable pesticides (less than .01 parts per million).

“I believe pesticide residue-free blueberries will be embraced by consumers,” Wishnatzki said. “These berries will be more affordable than organics, which have a loyal following but are too pricy for many customers. This alternative to organics will appeal to a much larger audience.”

The company also added processing as a secondary market for its strawberries.

“We take pride in the fact that we market the entire crop,” Wishnatzki said. “Our processing market gives us a backup plan. If things get tough, we are usually one of the last ones standing.”

Including the flats of fresh strawberries 30 million pounds of strawberries were sold fresh or processed by the company in 2010.

Wish Farms puts a lot of effort into forecasting, Wishnatzki said, and not just in strawberries. The company has at least two people who count blooms in all of the crops, giving Wish Farms a benchmark that puts it ahead of its competitors.

Wishnatzki pioneered the FreshQC quality control and traceability solution, beginning in 2008. The patent-pending system allows a consumer unit to be traced back to the picker who picked it. The packaging even has a call-out to consumers, asking, “How’s my picking?”

“We wanted it to be very visible to consumers and build on our image of quality,” Wishnatzki said. “If something isn’t right, we hear about it first. It lets us know a lot of information in a hurry from our consumers. That can be good or bad, but it improves our quality and brand image with the focus on accountability. It’s an added value to the growers we ship for, too.”

Marketing and brand management is something Wish Farms takes very seriously. The company recently hired a full-time marketing director and has been expanding into other regions. Wishnatzki said the goal is to be a year-round marketer in major crops.

Wish Farms is taking advantage of social media, with more than 3,000 fans on Facebook. It is a way to connect with consumers on another level and promote the company and brand. Consumers embrace companies and brands they relate to and know, he said.

Wish Farms wants to present all the elements of what it does with each product, and carry the success from strawberries over to other produce.

“We’re aligning our products to have the same plan, be it vegetables, strawberries or blueberries,” Wishnatzki said. “When you have everyone reading from the same piece of music and singing the same tune, it is amazing what you can accomplish.”

By Derrek Sigler