Committee amends and releases Jersey Fresh marketing bill after agritourism and product-definition concerns

The Assembly Agriculture Committee amended and released Assembly Bill 2762, which directs the Department of Agriculture to advertise and promote Jersey Fresh beers, wines and liquors. The committee removed a proposed recurring $100,000 appropriation during markup.

Industry and farm witnesses backed the bill but urged precise eligibility criteria. "The 1 thing... is the devil's in the details," said Eric Orlando of the Brewers Guild of New Jersey, urging the committee and Department of Agriculture to define what constitutes a Jersey Fresh product and what percentages of local ingredients would be required for alcoholic beverages to qualify. Orlando said only a handful of commercially viable hops and grains are grown in the state and warned that without technical criteria the marketing program "is really not gonna really be utilized by any brewery in the state of New Jersey."

Needle Creek representative (introduced as Mr. Hart) described steep freeze losses to grapes and strawberries and urged agritourism as a supporting strategy. "I lost all my strawberries this year... 100% of them," the witness said, arguing that cross-promotion among farms, breweries and wineries could help drive customers back to farms during a tough year.

Committee members signaled follow-up work during the summer to define 'Jersey Fresh' for fermented and distilled products and to craft criteria the department will use. Sponsors characterized the bill as a marketing step to support farms and agritourism; the committee voted to amend and release the bill.