New Jersey is in the midst of wrapping up its fresh hot pepper season. “We just had a frost last week so it’s almost gone now. It’s a little earlier than usual--I think it was November when we got frost last year, so we’re now getting what we can. It just hit 32 degrees so not all of the plants made it,” says Tom Spies of Cross Country Nurseries.
Cross Country Nurseries is a mixed business where 90 percent of its business is in plant starts, including peppers, tomatoes and eggplants though peppers are the bulk of those sales. It begins with sowing seeds in January inside greenhouses. Fresh pepper fields are planted at the end of May with peppers starting to ripen at the end of June.
The grower sells a variety of field-grown hot peppers. “Mostly there are super hot varieties for making hot sauce or mild seasoning peppers. The seasoning peppers, those have a mild heat but a Habanero taste which is unique,” says Spies. The majority of its production is destined for retail though some processing companies are also clients who process peppers into hot sauces.
Modifying acreage
The business is also looking to grow in 2023. “We’re looking to add a little more next year. We have room on our existing acreage if we modify our layout a little bit,” says Spies.
In turn, extra production would meet the strong demand for hot peppers out of New Jersey. “We still can’t meet all the demand for fresh peppers or the plant starts so it’s been good for us,” says Spies.
As for pricing, it is stronger this year as it is with virtually every commodity. “We also received organic certification between last year and this year so we’re playing with pricing to see if it hurts demand at all,” says Spies.
For more information:
Tom Spies
Cross Country Nurseries
Tel: +1 (908) 996-4646
[email protected]
https://www.chileplants.com/
