by Riveridge Produce Marketing
SPARTA, Mich. – As part of an expanded partnership with Ridgeview Orchards, Riveridge Produce Marketing will market a larger share of Michigan asparagus in 2017.
“We’ve worked with Riveridge for a number of years on the apple side and they’ve always been on the forefront of marketing, food safety and quality,” said Al Dietrich, co-owner Ridgeview Orchards. “They have more than 25 years of produce relationships on the apple side and we knew it would be a natural bridge to add our asparagus marketing to their portfolio.”
With this larger volume, Riveridge has added packaging options, revised current packaging and partnered with a Southwest Michigan packer to capture some of the first harvested asparagus of the season.
Shafer Lake, a Riveridge partner for apple packing, has added an asparagus packing line. Based in Southwest Michigan, Shafer Lake will receive and package asparagus directly from that region which harvests sooner than the bulk of Michigan asparagus grown in the Hart region.
At this time, and contingent on the weather, packing of Michigan asparagus is anticipated between May 5-7.
“We didn’t hesitate when Ridgeview asked us to come aboard with asparagus marketing. It gives us an opportunity to expand our Michigan produce offering and create new options for our customers,” said Don Armock, president, Riveridge Produce Marketing. “Ridgeview Orchards has the best in mind for the end customers and are willing to try new things – we’re looking forward to working with them for years to come on asparagus.”
Real-time inventory will be in place thanks to shared software between Ridgeview and Riveridge. As asparagus is packed, the system will be updated and refreshed automatically every five minutes to Riveridge. Sales staff can then see where there may be opportunities to move extra inventory and be ready when buyers have additional needs.
Additionally, as more consumers like to know more where their food comes from, Riveridge has emphasized Michigan grown on packages with a larger outline of the state and created a Michigan-grown tag for the one-pound bundles. MAAB research shows 76 percent* of consumers are more likely to purchase US-grown asparagus over imports and 55 percent* of them are willing to pay more for that option.