Steven Johnson – Florida Specialties

Getting produce from the farm to market involves many people working in unison, including produce brokers.

One of those helping keep supermarkets and restaurants well-stocked is Steven Johnson with Florida Specialties. He markets a wide range of vegetables to retail, food service and various food distribution companies all over North America.

He logs a lot of time on his three phones, to help get the best return for the growers he works for. That process isn’t for the faint-hearted.

“It’s definitely a high-stakes poker game, especially on the vegetable side, because there are no programs that supplement when they have a bad year,” Johnson remarked. “It’s a win or lose proposition. I don’t know how they do it.”

Johnson said his family farm background and his working on a farm prior to this job help him understand the effort it takes to maintain an abundant, high quality food supply for our country. 

“Most people have no idea the investment these vegetable growers have, long before they ever see a penny back, as far as on return,” he said.  “At there’s been a lot of years where, no matter how hard we try, we don’t get all of their investment back.”

Johnson said Redox products are an important part of maintaining strong vegetable crops in the Southeast. 

“I’d probably be hard pressed to name any major growers in this area that didn’t use the line in growing their crops” he said. “Absolutely, it has been really big for these growers, as far as leveraging and getting the most of their crops as they possibly can.”