Steve Bedner and his wife, Marie, longtime Palm Beach County vegetable growers, opened Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market west of Boynton Beach in 2010.
They believed there was a demand for a family-oriented retail farm market and U-Pick.
A decade later, their instincts have proven to be correct. The store, U-Pick and other attractions such as a corn maze, have become wildly successful, attracting droves of customers from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties.
“It’s a family destination,” said Steve, who co-owns and operates the business with Marie.
“Farming is hard enough, but when you add the retail aspect in, it becomes a real challenge,” said Marie. “But we saw the change in the farming environment out here. You can see there are more homes to support retail. For us to stay in it, we thought diversity was a great way.”
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In 2016 the Bedners opened a second retail market in Delray Beach. It specializes in house-made sandwiches, soups such as shrimp and corn chowder, and salads sought after by downtown workers.
This summer they expect their third location to debut as the anchor store at Flamingo Place, a new complex on Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.
“It will be the next-level store for us,” Steve said. “We are going to have a full-blown butcher and sell fish.”
Because they once sold produce at the West Palm Beach greenmarket, they know they have a customer base.
“We are the only real farmer’s market in this county, where it is direct from farm to table. The other farm markets buy the stuff from purveyors,” Steve said.
From Field to Market
The Bedners grow sustainably, using the same methods as organic growers. They are not certified organic because that would require shutting down for three years, Steve said.
As with the Delray Beach store, the produce will be picked from their Boynton farm and delivered each day. The new store, at 7,800-square-feet, will be the size of the Boynton and Delray interior spaces combined.
The addition of the third market was the idea of Lane Brooker, general manager of Bedner’s retail markets, who has years of experience in the retail grocery business.
“You have to find what works in your area and what the community wants,” Marie said.
That has resulted in growing kale and other items for customers who like to juice and “hot, hot peppers” for those who participate in chili competitions.
The shelves filled with shiny eggplant and pristine bell peppers look perfect because they haven’t been handled multiple times through distribution channels – just once from their field to the market, Steve said.
“It comes from our field and onto the shelf. It doesn’t sit in a cooler. That makes all the difference in the world,” Marie said.
All in the Family
The Bedner family has farmed on the 80-acre site since 1980. Steve’s father, Arthur, started farming in Palm Beach County after moving from Broward County in 1960. The number of farms in the area has decreased dramatically.
Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market is separate from Bedner Growers, the commercial side of the family’s business. It is run by Steve’s brothers, Bruce and Charles, and nephew Jesse. They grow 1,500 acres of bell peppers and 500 acres of cucumbers in Palm Beach and Martin counties. It is sold up and down the East Coast, Steve said.
“It is such a challenge to farm with our competition being Mexico. The whole NAFTA deal, which is now the USMCA, is still not benefiting Florida, either,” Marie said. “South Florida was the winter vegetable capital of the world at one time. That’s no longer true.”
Fall on the Farm
The Boynton farm location is well known for its fall festival with a popular pumpkin patch – filled with pumpkins grown elsewhere – since they do not grow well in South Florida. As many as 20,000 people attend each weekend from late September through October. Attractions include gem mining, bounce houses, a petting zoo, food trucks, live music and more.
The seven-acre U-Pick with seasonal strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers and cucumbers in season will remain as the Bedner’s only U-Pick.
More than 26,000 children a year experience a field trip to Bedner’s, where they ride around the field in an open-air trailer pulled by a tractor.
“We had so many phone calls on the farm side, when we were just farming, from teachers wanting to bring the kids out,” Marie said. “We really saw a need in the community to educate.”
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Bedner’s employee Jenny Gatto works with teachers to organize the field trips, and former USDA vegetable agent David Legg teaches the children about planting, growing and harvesting.
The retail markets bring customers clamoring for the more than 50 varieties of vegetables including red, green and savoy cabbage; white, orange and purple cauliflower; eight types of tomatoes, celery, Romaine, Boston and iceberg lettuce; Eggplant Sicilian and Eggplant Italian.
Customers can also select from hundreds of other items, including wine, cheese, honey, salsa, hummus, tortilla chips, fresh-squeezed orange juice and baked goods. Many are produced in Florida.
