Edible Garden Expands Target Fresh Herb Program for Holiday Season

Edible Garden is expanding its relationship with Target through a fresh herb program designed to meet increased consumer demand during the Thanksgiving through New Year holiday season.

The expanded program will include several of the herbs most closely associated with holiday cooking, including rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley and poultry blends. Edible Garden and Target are already working together on product assortment, production planning, packaging, merchandising, logistics and replenishment in preparation for the seasonal sales increase.

For fresh herb suppliers and retailers, the holidays represent one of the category’s most important selling periods as consumers prepare Thanksgiving dinners, holiday gatherings and other seasonal meals.

“This award represents an important expansion of our longstanding relationship with Target and reflects the confidence one of the world’s largest retailers has placed in Edible Garden’s ability to execute during the most demanding period of the fresh herb calendar,” said Jim Kras, CEO of Edible Garden.

Kras noted that the company achieved a fulfillment rate of more than 98% during last year’s Thanksgiving period, demonstrating its ability to maintain supply during periods of heightened demand.

Edible Garden plans to support the expanded Target program through its vertically integrated production facilities, network of contract growers and GreenThumb 2.0 technology, which the company uses to help align production with anticipated retail demand.

The company says better demand planning can help maintain freshness and availability while reducing excess inventory, food miles and shrink throughout the supply chain.

The holiday award follows another recent expansion of the companies’ relationship. Earlier in August, Edible Garden announced that it had been awarded fresh-cut herb distribution through a key Target Midwest distribution center, increasing availability of its products across additional stores in that region.

The latest program gives Edible Garden an opportunity to increase volume during a critical seasonal window while helping Target maintain dependable fresh herb supplies.

For produce departments, the program also demonstrates the amount of advance planning required behind holiday merchandising. Production, packaging and distribution decisions are being made months before shoppers begin filling their carts with Thanksgiving ingredients.

Edible Garden said the expanded program represents another step in positioning the company as a dependable supply-chain partner for major retailers while growing its fresh herb business nationally.