Field Notes
The Society’s May field trip consisted of a tour of Southern New Jersey food and agricultural enterprises. Members and guests gathered at the farm owned by immediate Past President Marilyn Horner and husband Bill in Woolwich Township in Gloucester County. From there the group proceeded to Seabrook Brothers and Sons, Inc., in Upper Deerfield Township, then to the Rutgers Food Innovation Center at Bridgeton, then to Overdevest Nurseries in Bridgeton, and finally to the Marlboro Farm Market. Fifty-one members attended.

Seabrook Brothers and Sons, Inc. is a third-generation family owned and operated business that grows, processes, and freezes 150 million pounds of frozen vegetables annually in Upper Deerfield Township near Bridgeton, New Jersey. The company was formed in 1978 by members of the same family that founded, owned and operated Seabrook Farms, the largest producer of frozen vegetables in the world when it was sold in 1959. Members of the Society were provided a guided tour of the plant which specializes in processing, quick freezing and packing vegetables.

Over the years, the Seabrook family has pioneered quick freezing methods. This enables them to sell high-quality individual quick frozen packs and to quick freeze product that goes into large containers during peak harvest. These are placed in cold storage and repacked into individual packs during the off season. Seabrook Brothers is best known for its frozen green beans and spinach but also produces a full line of vegetables from asparagus to zucchini. The company also produces products for the ingredient market, particularly in applications calling for spinach. Seabrook packs under a variety of private labels such as Shop Rite and sells it own private Seabrook Farms brand. Seabrook Farms Creamed Spinach is the best-known of these. The company ships product throughout the U.S. and to a number of foreign countries. Crops packed come from company-owned land and from contract farmers from New Jersey and as far away as the Delmarva Peninsula, central Pennsylvania and Upstate New York.