- Jersey Asparagus Buys Rights to Asparagus Guacamole, Salsa
By Karen Gentry
Managing Editor
-
- Jersey Asparagus Farms now owns Esparrago’s “Asparagus Guacamole” and “Chunky Asparagus Salsa,” which were developed by the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board (MAAB).
The New Jersey company placed the high bid on the asparagus products during a conference call on July 31, said John Bakker, MAAB director. Jersey Asparagus Farms formed Cedar Run Farms – a separate entity – to handle the products.
The sale included all existing inventory for the asparagus guacamole and the chunky asparagus salsa. The $74,000 bid also buys the ingredients, labels, lids, boxes, recipes and the rights to produce the products, Bakker said.
Four or five parties expressed interest in the company, and three interested parties took part in an auction via conference call, he said.
“We’re looking to take a great product and make it even better,” said Scott Walker, from Jersey Asparagus Farms and Walker Brothers.
His operation grows asparagus and other crops and sells asparagus seeds and crowns worldwide. They are also the exclusive seed producer for the Jersey male hybrid variety. This past spring they experimented with gourmet asparagus spears.
Walker said they hope to take advantage of their worldwide connections in marketing the asparagus products. Marketing venues include catalog and Internet sales as well as trade shows.
“We do want to have some production done here in Jersey,” Walker said. “We want to use our products in jars. As a lot of sales are in the Michigan area, we are considering running some (product) in Michigan.”
“We are looking to process some here (New Jersey) within a month – it’s popular. We’re making some new connections; we don’t have a lot of product in storage right now,” Walker said on Aug. 28.
Walker said that they might play around with the chunky asparagus salsa and make it even hotter. He said the asparagus for the products will most likely come from New Jersey and Michigan.
The asparagus guacamole was originally developed at Michigan State University and was funded by growers before MAAB started Asparagus Enterprises in 1999 to develop and sell asparagus products. Asparagus Enterprises was separate from MAAB because retail/wholesale products didn’t fit into MAAB’s area of responsibility, Bakker said. Sales of the Asparagus Guacamole (mild and zesty) exceeded 6,000 cases last year, while Chunky Asparagus Salsa was a new product that launched in July 2002.
“I think it will be a great fit for them,” Bakker said about the sale of the asparagus products to Jersey Asparagus Farms.
