CASTROVILLE, Calif. – March is the beginning of peak artichoke season and Ocean Mist Farms is supporting sales and celebrating the company’s 90th anniversary with multiple activities designed to generate sales and consumer awareness for fresh artichokes.
The family farmers of Ocean Mist Farms, the largest grower of artichokes in North America, have been growing Heirloom artichokes for 90 years. The HH Heirloom artichoke variety is a perennial plant that grows from original root stock 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 only from the same root stock that has been passed down to each generation of Ocean Mist family farmers for more than 90 years — never from seed. Artichokes are such a strong part of California history that they were recently named the Official State Vegetable of California.
“Ocean Mist Farms’ Heirloom variety has also been the variety chefs preferred for years,” said Kori Tuggle, director of marketing and business development. “Most chefs refer to this variety as the ‘red label’ referring to the red font color of our carton for the last several decades.”
Peak volume of the Castroville Heirloom crop is March through May, Tuggle said, and all the Heirloom artichokes out of Castroville will be branded with a red PLU/UPC sticker to help consumers find the Ocean Mist Farms’ Heirloom variety.
“During the peak three months, we are focused on a multi-faceted promotional strategy with elements that include retail display contests, radio ads in Northern California, social media contests featuring the hash tag #heirloomartichoke that drive consumers to purchase, custom in-store point of sale, display bins and petal inserts. We will also activate geo-marketing with our emailed Arti-Alerts to promote with our artichoke club members when retailers have Heirloom artichokes on sale-specific to where shoppers live,” Tuggle said.
In addition, Chef Curtis Stone of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters, came to Castroville yesterday for a field tour of the new Heirloom artichoke crop. Chef Stone brought his entire team from his new restaurant Maude to help prepare for their March menu that will feature artichokes in all nine courses of the fixed menu and will feature his visit on his popular blog.
Ocean Mist Farms is also leveraging its Artichoke Club of 40,000 members to communicate information about retail promotions during peak season. The company sends a weekly “Arti Alert” email to club members with retail ads specific to the region they live in to help them find where they can buy Ocean Mist Heirloom Artichokes on sale. The same message is also shared via Ocean Mist Farms’ 11,600 Facebook fans and other social media channels.
The highlight of peak season will be the Annual Castroville Artichoke Festival held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds on May 31 and June 1 where Ocean Mist Farms will be honored for its service and support of the Castroville community since 1924. The festival features Arti the Artichoke, Agro Art, chef demos, artichoke field tours, wine tasting and assorted activities for artichoke lovers of all ages.
For more information about the company and its products, visit www.oceanmist.com.
Source: Ocean Mist Farms
