Dec 7, 2015
Consumer focus spurs Wish Farms’ success

Wish Farms, a Plant City, Florida-based grower-shipper of strawberries and blueberries, has expanded its Argentina blueberry program, seeing its recent harvest double in volume over last season.

The Argentina blueberry season spanned from the beginning of October to the end of November and segued into what was expected to be another strong Chilean season for Wish Farms.

“Our blueberry team continues to focus on steady, controlled growth. This season, our new partnership with a significant grower helps solidify our Argentina program and stabilize volume for our customers,” said Teddy Koukoulis, director of blueberry operations.

Wish Farms estimates it will be marketing close to 1.5 million pounds of Argentinean blueberries, much of which is grown under hoops providing protection from inclement weather.

“The majority of our Argentina crop will be grown under tunnels, providing cover and protection from weather elements such as rain, frost and hail,” said JC Clinard, executive vice president of Wish Farms. “Rain can cause a serious interruption to the Argentina blueberry harvest. The hoops protect us in these circumstances and ensure our customers have a consistent supply of quality berries.”

Wish Farms, founded in 1922, is one of the largest shippers of strawberries in Florida and has been so for over 80 years. Wish Farms is a year-round supplier of strawberries, blueberries and select seasonal vegetables.

The operation utilizes How’s My Picking?, a patented tool for traceability to ensure quality by tying consumer feedback to the harvest time, field location, picker and other production processes.

Wish Farms’ legacy dates back to 1900, when Harris Wishnatzki immigrated to New York City from Russia. He began selling produce from a pushcart, which soon led to a wholesale business in 1922. Eventually, the family became involved in produce buying in central Florida, and made their way down south.

More than 90 years later, Wish Farms has evolved its operations through innovative procedures and strategic partnerships with growers. In 2010, the company launched its consumer brand Wish Farms, featuring Misty the garden pixie.

Third-generation owner Gary Wishnatzki takes pride in continuing his family’s legacy while pursuing the company’s core values of quality, integrity and responsiveness.

Wishnatzki Farms changed its name to Wish Farms in 2011 in order to further develop its focus on consumer branding.

“Building brand recognition amongst consumers is a top priority,” Wishnatzki said. “I’m proud of the organization my grandfather, uncle and father built. We will continue to uphold the traditions, values and quality service that we are known for.”

Growth mode continues

 James Peterson, vice president of fresh sales for Wish Farms, and Amber Kosinsky, marketing director, recently detailed the company’s emergence as a year-round supplier of strawberries, blueberries and some vegetables.

“Our import program works pretty well, with the overall flow between Argentina and Chile,” Peterson said. “We’re harvesting blueberries in Argentina when it’s a light production time here domestically.”

Peterson said product from Argentina is flown into Miami and then shipped out from there. The coordination process between the Argentinian, Chilean and U.S. production requires a closely managed effort driven by a procurement team working with retailers, U.S. Customs and other stopping points.

“The Chilean program is a catalyst for the import blueberry program’s growth,” Peterson said.

Wish Farms has a presence with growers in Chile year round, with liaisons working with the grower group and sales procurement team.

Blueberry volumes in Argentina were nearly double the previous year, with a projection of 1.5 million pounds. Chilean production has grown to more than 5 million pounds annually, and was expected to be closer to 6 million this year, Peterson said.

The company had been primarily a Florida strawberry growing operation for many years and is among the biggest strawberry shippers in the country. Wish Farms ramped up a blueberry program in that state five years ago.

“The blueberry program exploded from there in each region,” he said.

Combined with its growing operations in California, Wish Farms has become one of the largest domestic strawberry producers in the country.

Wish Farms grows strawberries in Salinas and Santa Maria, California. It began growing organic strawberries in California in 2014.

“It’s something to hang our hat on – that we have the largest organic strawberry segment,” he said.

“The thing most of the retailers I sit down with usually bring up first is organics,” Peterson said. “We’re still figuring out how to best merchandise, retail and know what really makes that segment grow. For most of them, it’s a pretty key strategic area. Acreage has increased and will probably continue to increase on the organic front.”

He said Florida blueberry production is expanding rapidly, and will continue to rise.

Wish Farms has seen its growers benefit from significant use of hoop house production, particularly in Argentina, where its largest grower has most of its production under hoops.

“They get a fair number of hail and rain days, so they’re entirely protected. It’s worked incredibly well this fall,” he said.

The Argentina and Chile operations were provided some Wish Farms resources to ensure proper procedures for food safety and quality control are being followed.

“The procurement team talks to growers daily,” he said. “They manage the relationship to make sure the growers are understanding the current market in order to bring a good price back to the grower. They are well aware of what’s going on when they are paid, so they are not surprised. From Wish Farms’ perspective, what we do well is communicate to the retail base and the grower base. Without our growers, we don’t have product to provide to retailers.”

Peterson said Wish Farms works with club stores, major retailers and smaller outlets to market its product.

“For us, there’s kind of a focus on all three,” he said.

Emphasis on tracking

Traceability is an important part of what they do, Peterson said.

“There’s a sticker placed on every clamshell with a 16-digit code that can tell you what farm the berry came from, what block, what variety and even who picked it,” Petersons said.

“We use a system of accountability on the farming side, and it’s a key piece of quality control,” Peterson said. “We’re very driven by what the consumer tells us. Did they really enjoy this variety or that variety – or not. We use the consumer feedback and it helps drive growing decisions. In the end, we get people to come back to the Wish Farms’ brand.”

Kosinsky said Wish Farms is investing money and time “to see how we can find added value on the consumer end – it’s more of a call to action. In the end, we hope they come back and give our brand a try. We stand behind the consumer experience.”

She said growers are appreciating the suggestions gleaned from the feedback, and it has led to specific growing strategies.

“One of the things in Florida we found in strawberry, is the Sweet Sensation variety was seen in the feedback as the best tasting strawberry we had. That’s going to lead to the grower producing more of that than anything else we have, and we feel we will grow more than anyone else.”

Gary Pullano


Tags:


Current Issue

On-farm AI: Water, farm, labor research guide decisions

Data collection tool expands farm management

Carmel Valley winegrapes: Parsonage Village Vineyard

IFTA Yakima Valley tour provides orchard insights

IFTA recognizes tree fruit honorees

Pennsylvania recognizes fruit industry professionals

Fresh Views 40 Under 40

see all current issue »

Be sure to check out our other specialty agriculture brands

produceprocessingsm Organic Grower