CASTROVILLE, Calif. – April 22, 2014 – This spring Ocean Mist Farms added a new commodity to the more than 30 fresh vegetables the company grows and sells: Sweet baby broccoli.
Starting this week, the company is offering a year-round program of this unique commodity in an 18-count pack: Iced or iceless format.
A cross between broccoli and Chinese kale, sweet baby broccoli has a sweeter flavor than ordinary broccoli. It features long, thin stalks and small floret clusters that often contain edible yellow flowers. The Ocean Mist Farms hang tag includes “quick cook” recipes to educate shoppers on how easy and versatile it is to cook with sweet baby broccoli.
Ocean Mist Farms added sweet baby broccoli to its product line in order to meet growing consumer demand for the vegetable, said Joe Feldman, vice president sales and marketing.
According to Nielsen Perishables Group sales data, the sweet baby broccoli category grew 12.7% in dollar sales and 12.6% in volume sales year-over-year, with dollar sales topping $9.5 million (latest 52 weeks ending 2/22/14, total U.S.) The top-selling item was the unbranded bulk baby broccoli, PLU 3277, where dollar sales were up 9.4% and volume sales were up 9.2% year-over-year, with dollar sales more than $3.8 million.
“This is a logical addition to our product line,” Feldman said.
