Promoting Florida’s Bounty

The state farmers market system provides facilities for packing and shipping Florida grown products, while South Florida retailers partner with the department to promote Fresh from Florida produce November through May. The Fresh from Florida brand is promoted through weekly advertising circulars, digital couponing and sampling events. In addition to retail partnerships, the department manages a diverse media campaign utilizing Hulu and over-the-top media streaming, digital display banners, coupon redemptions, grocery cart ads, social media and print media to drive interest in Fresh from Florida commodities, says Max Flugrath, press secretary for the Office of Commissioner Nikki Fried of The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The agency’s trade development section also sponsors seminars and inbound trade missions to help growers export Florida produce internationally.

During the winter months, South Florida is the only U.S. growing region harvesting traditional vegetables, including squash, sweet corn, green beans and tomatoes, notes Flugrath. California produces small amounts of beans and sweet corn during this period, but Florida remains the largest domestic producer of those commodities during winter, he says. During the summer months, when many Florida crops are out of production, growers harvest tropicals.

“Farm production is abundant in the southern region of Florida, from our No. 1 county, Palm Beach, where about a billion dollars is produced in farm commodities each year, to Miami-Dade, where a great cross-section of tropicals, including our low-cal avocados, are produced,” says Flugrath.