The Michigan asparagus season saw a slight delay with cooler temperatures, but growers at Applewood Fresh are set to start shipping the week of May 25 until the end of June.This is a tight window for the harvesting season, but overall the company is looking at quality product for the season, weather dependent.

“We are excited to partner with New Era’s American Asparagus again this season to bring our customers the best asparagus Michigan has to offer,” said Brian Coates, vice president of sales at Applewood Fresh.

What separates New Era’s American Asparagus from any asparagus packingshed in Michigan is that product is cooled with a Hydrocooler immediately after harvest. The product is then placed in a cooler prior to packing inside acompletely refrigerated packingroom. Caleb Coulter, owner of New Era’s American Asparagus, said, “We keep this process as short as possible to increase our customers’ shelf life and quality of the product.”

“Buying local is more important than ever, so we are encouraging our retail partners to stay with Michigan asparagus for the full season to promote locally grown,” said Antonia Mascari, vice president of marketing. “Highlighting the power of locally grown with less miles traveled, a shorter supply chain, family-owned farms and sustainability efforts are all important things to focus on for promotions.”

We are excited to offer two new bagoptions including a new 2.25-pound zip lock bag with a “Perfect for Grilling” label: 11-pound and 28-pound standard bunch, 16-one-pound bag, 12-2.25-pound bag — griller zip lock bag. Peak volumes are expected around June 1-12 for promotions.

To help retailers drive sales, Applewood Fresh has both in-store and online digital tools to support the Michigan asparagus program. The eye-catching marketing materials include meet the grower POS, recipes, high-resolution photos and social media content.