CASTROVILLE, Calif. – March 9, 2015 – March marks the beginning of peak Heirloom artichoke season and Ocean Mist Farms is supporting sales with multiple activities designed to generate sales and consumer awareness for this special variety of fresh artichokes.
The family farmers of Ocean Mist Farms, the largest grower of artichokes in North America, have been growing Heirloom artichokes for more than 90 years.
As it stands, Artichokes are produced and readily accessible year-round; though peak harvesting season for our Heirloom variety is during spring — more specifically, during the months of March, April, and May. An artichoke thrives in foggy, cool-coastal climates and requires regular nutrients through watering and feeding. About 99% of the North American Artichokes are harvested in California, with Ocean Mist Farms being the largest grower. Ocean Mist proprietary Globe variety produces during the times of year that the Heirloom variety is not in peak production: May through the following March. The season for Artichoke is in a sense, all seasons.
The Heirloom artichoke variety is a perennial plant that grows from original rootstock that dates back to the start of Ocean Mist Farms in 1924. The formal classification of an Heirloom fresh fruit or vegetable is any distinct variety that grows and has been in trade for more than 50 years using the same lineage.
Like a family recipe, this unique variety of artichoke grows from the same rootstock that has been passed down to each generation of Ocean Mist family farmers for more than 90 years — never from seed. Artichokes have such a strong legacy in California that they were named the Official State Vegetable of California.
Ocean Mist Farms’ Heirloom variety is also the variety that chefs prefer. Many chefs refer to the Heirloom variety as the ‘red label’ referring to the red font color on the Ocean Mist Farms carton.
Peak volume of the Castroville Heirloom crop is expected in April, said Diana McClean, director of marketing. All the Heirloom artichokes will carry a red PLU/UPC sticker to help shoppers find the Ocean Mist Farms’ Heirloom variety in stores.
“During spring’s Heirloom artichoke season, we activate a multi-faceted promotional strategy that includes retail contests, radio ads in Northern California, a consumer sweepstakes, custom in-store point of sale, display bins and petal inserts,” McClean said.
The consumer sweepstakes will run in April and the theme is “Easy as 1-2-3.”
“Artichokes can be made in countless ways, but many people use the same cooking method and dip the petals in their favorite sauce,” McClean said.
For the Easy as 1-2-3 sweepstakes the players, who must be members of the Ocean Mist Farms’ Artichoke Club, can enter each day by selecting their favorite base, mixer and herb to create a unique artichoke dip. Daily prizes will be awarded and unique dip names will be generated to share across social media platforms.
The sweepstakes dipping game details will be communicated via social media channels and petal inserts in stores across the country. The petal inserts will be placed in every other artichoke for stores that agree to carry the item and labels will be added to the clamshell packages, which is a new packaging option for the spring season.
Daily winners will be entered in chance to win a grand prize of $1,000.
“We want to use the Easy as 1-2-3 theme to demystify the artichoke eating experience and add a fun engaging element to the process,” McClean said. “We like that it gets people thinking creatively about cooking with artichokes.”
Ocean Mist Farms will also activate geo-marketing with its email Arti-Alerts sent to members of its Artichoke Club when retailers have Heirloom artichokes on sale-specific in their market. The same message is also shared via Ocean Mist Farms’ Facebook page and other social media channels.
The culmination of peak season will be the Annual Castroville Artichoke Festival held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds May 30-31. The festival features Arti the Artichoke, Agro Art, chef demos, artichoke field tours, wine tasting and assorted activities for artichoke lovers of all ages.
