With its warm days and cool nights, Maine is a Utopia for summer broccoli production. But early July was unusually warm and wet, making the start of the season a challenge for Smith Packing Inc., a leading broccoli grower-shipper based in Presque Isle, ME.
In fact, broccoli production across the nation in early summer was limited, leading to some tight supplies and a very strong market in the beginning of the deal.
“There were some challenges in the early part of the season,” said Tara Smith Vighetti, director of marketing at Smith Packing. “But working around Mother Nature is part of the deal when you are in produce.”
Vighetti said a key strategy when confronted with a situation such as this is to nurture good lines of communications with her customers.
