After a winter marked by cold temperatures, supply disruptions and rising production costs, Nardelli Lake View Farms is optimistic about the upcoming New Jersey season as crops begin developing across the state.

“We had a typical old-school winter last year with snow and extended periods of cold weather here in the Northeast,” said Bill Nardelli Sr., president of the Cedarville, NJ-based company. “Then spring started cool, we got a warm spell for a couple weeks and then it turned cool and overcast again, which delayed some product development.”

Despite the uneven weather patterns, Nardelli noted conditions are beginning to normalize and crop quality has been strong so far.

“We’ve seen all these conditions before,” he said. “Mother Nature has a way of evening things out when it’s all done.”

The cooler spring temperatures have actually benefited several commodities grown throughout the Garden State.

“It’s been awesome weather for our leafy items like lettuces, parsley, cilantro, beets and the row crops,” Nardelli said. “The cool weather and slower growing pace has developed some beautiful products.”

Still, the company continues to face mounting financial pressures tied to fuel, labor and input costs.

“All growers right now are facing a challenge of costs that we’ve never seen before,” Nardelli said. “Diesel, electric, packaging, fertilizers — everything has been working against us to operate economically.”

Those rising expenses are also impacting consumers, creating a difficult balancing act throughout the supply chain.

“The customer is prioritizing purchases when they go to the store because it costs them more just to get there,” Nardelli said. “At the same time, we’re experiencing the same increase in costs to get them the product.”

Founded in 1898, Nardelli Lake View Farms has evolved from a small family farming operation into a large, diversified produce company with year-round sourcing capabilities. The company’s history remains deeply tied to family and agriculture in southern New Jersey.

“We started with my great-grandfather, who was strictly a grower,” Nardelli said. “Over time, my father saw the need to get into trucking and distribution, and the business naturally evolved from there.”

In the early years, the company worked closely with hundreds of local growers through the Cedarville Cooperative.

“There were 400 growers here at one time,” Nardelli said. “Now it’s basically down to four larger growers raising the same acreage the 400 once did.”

That consolidation helped shape the company into the vertically integrated operation it is today, with farming, trucking, distribution and sales all working together.

The next generation is also playing a major role in the company’s future.

“My sons both came into the business after college, and they complement each other very well,” Nardelli said. “One likes the buying and selling side, and the other likes the hands-on farming operation.”

Transportation continues to be one of the company’s biggest strategic advantages, particularly given New Jersey’s location near major population centers.

“The closer we can get to the consumer from the distribution standpoint, the more cost-effective we can be,” Nardelli said. “Being able to deliver overnight into New England, the Midwest and the Mid-South is a big advantage for us.”

New Jersey’s diversity of crops also gives the company flexibility in building mixed loads and servicing customers efficiently.

“New Jersey is so varied with many different commodities,” Nardelli said. “We’re able to facilitate many items together on one truck.”

Looking ahead, Nardelli Lake View Farms plans to continue expanding farmland and investing in technologies that improve efficiency and sustainability.

“We’re always interested in purchasing farmland near our operations,” Nardelli said. “Crop rotation and being good stewards of the land are very important to us.”

At the same time, the company remains focused on adapting to changing customer needs while staying true to its roots. “We’re always looking at new technology and new programs,” Nardelli said. “But we also want to stay true to what we do and continue building on the foundation that’s kept us going for more than 128 years.”