Celery
Our customers use celery because of its distinct flavor, functional properties, and nutritional value. Celery is commonly processed into powders, juices, extracts, and dried pieces, which are used in soups, sauces, seasonings, and ready-to-eat meals. Its natural savory taste enhances flavor profiles, often reducing the need for added salt or artificial flavorings. Celery is also known for its naturally occurring nitrates, which are used in processed meats as a “natural” curing agent alternative to synthetic additives. In addition, it contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support health-related marketing claims. Its availability in shelf-stable forms makes it practical for large-scale production and consistent use across a wide range of food products.
Celery can be supplied as organic upon request
Botanical: Apium Graveolens
Nature’s Crunchy Hydrator
Celery is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Apiaceae family, commonly processed into celery NFC juice or celery juice concentrate. It has long, fibrous stalks that are typically light green in color and grow in tightly packed bunches. Celery is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region and has been used in food and traditional practices for thousands of years. It has a crisp texture and a mild, slightly earthy flavor. The entire plant is edible, including the stalks, leaves, and seeds, though the stalks are the most commonly consumed part. Celery is typically grown in cool climates and harvested when the stalks are firm and fully developed.
Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) is a biennial marshland plant belonging to the Apiaceae (carrot/parsley) family, cultivated for its thick, succulent, ribbed petioles (stalks). Renowned throughout the food, beverage, flavor, and meat processing industries, celery delivers an unmistakable savory, herbal, and slightly salty-mineral flavor profile. Its characteristic aroma and taste are driven by natural phthalides (primarily 3-n-butylphthalide and sedanolide) which contribute a delicate celery note while functioning as powerful natural flavor enhancers that boost savory umami perception in culinary formulations.
Beyond its sensory profile, celery taproots and stalks naturally extract and accumulate high concentrations of inorganic nitrates from agricultural soils. This characteristic has established celery juice concentrate and cultured celery powder as the global processing benchmark for clean-label, natural curing agents in meat manufacturing. In commercial processing, variety selection and cut geometry dictate flavor concentration, color retention, and cellular crunch:
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Pascal / Tall Utah (The Commercial Benchmark): The dominant green-stalk processing cultivar across the Western Hemisphere. Characterized by long, thick, solid, string-resistant petioles with deep green pigmentation, high natural water content, and balanced solids (3.5° to 5.0° Brix). Tall Utah cultivars yield vibrant emerald-green single-strength NFC juices and firm, crisp dices that maintain structural integrity through IQF blast-freezing.
Celery NFC juice retains the raw, crisp, refreshing aroma and natural sodium/potassium mineral balance demanded by clean-label wellness beverages. Single-strength juice can then be de-pectinized, de-starched, and passed through multi-stage ultra-filtration to create celery juice concentrate. Evaporated under low-temperature vacuum, clarified concentrate provides a translucent golden-green liquid with high solubility, neutral blending capacity, and concentrated nitrate levels for food formulation.
Brothers International partners with origin processors equipped with dedicated root-washing flumes, precision slicing lines, and continuous vacuum evaporation systems to preserve natural color, clean flavor, and active nitrate concentrations.
Global Sourcing Through the Brothers International Network:
Celery is a cool-season crop requiring temperate, maritime microclimates with moderate daytime temperatures (15°C to 21°C / 60°F to 70°F), cool nights, and deep, highly fertile muck or alluvial soils with high water-holding capacity. Because fresh celery has high surface area and transpires water rapidly post-harvest, field-to-processing transport must be tightly managed. Brothers International connects North American procurement teams to premier agricultural basins across the globe.
We source high-grade celery ingredients from leading global agricultural hubs:
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Europe (Spain, France & the United Kingdom): Spain (Murcia and the Mediterranean coast) is the dominant European processing giant, supplying high-clarity 65° Brix concentrates, organic celery NFC juices, and celery IQF dices that meet strict European Union quality and baby food standards.
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Central & South America (Mexico): The Bajío agricultural corridor of central Mexico supplies high-quality, cost-competitive processing celery for IQF freezing and juice concentration during the winter months.
By coordinating supply across California, Florida, Spain, and Mexico, Brothers International insulates your manufacturing facility against localized drought cycles, pest pressures, and regional harvest disruptions.
Harvest Cycles & Continuous Supply Management:
Due to staggered agricultural microclimates in California (Salinas/Oxnard), Florida, and Mexico, processing celery is harvested and pressed across 52 continuous weeks each year. Coastal California processors run lines nearly year-round, while Spanish and Mexican facilities surge during the European and North American winter and early spring.
Managing continuous rolling production and coordinating cold-chain logistics is a core capability of Brothers International. Our operations and logistics teams oversee multi-quarter inventory allocations, deep-frozen transport (-18°C), chilled distribution, USDA/FDA clearances, C-TPAT supply chain security, and strategic warehousing across North America. Whether your facility requires frozen 5-gallon pails of NFC celery juice for functional beverage shots, 55-gallon drums of 65° Brix clarified concentrate for clean-label meat curing, or full truckloads of 3/8″ IQF diced celery for commercial soup preps, our network guarantees ready inventory year-round.
Rigorous Quality Control, Traceability & Compliance:
Because celery stalks grow close to the ground and have grooved petioles that can trap field silt and agricultural residues, processing demands strict technical oversight—specifically regarding automated soil removal, microbial pathogen validation (Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, and Salmonella), pesticide residue screening, heavy metal compliance, and allergen management.
Through our network, we deliver celery ingredients backed by complete technical documentation and top-tier industry certifications, including GFSI benchmarks (BRC, SQF, FSSC 22000), USDA Organic (NOP), Kosher, Non-GMO, and Halal standards. Our quality assurance protocols include HPLC testing for nitrate concentration, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) heavy metal screening, peroxidase deactivation validation (in IQF cuts), Bostwick flow rate testing, and Brix adherence.
The Brothers International
Quality Promise
Brothers International and its 4 divisions, Brothers Ingredients, Dennick Fruit Source, Hosh International and Food Partners, are trusted global importers of premium ingredients to major food and beverage manufacturers in North America. We deliver consistent quality and supply across every format the industry demands. Our Celery is sourced from the earth’s prime growing regions where farming expertise, climate and soil composition come together to produce Celery of exceptional caliber. All of our suppliers undergo a rigorous vetting process to ensure we work with only the highest-quality processors and can fully guarantee traceability, sustainability, and compliance with all international regulations.
Each of our divisions has a specialized operations team to manage shipments and coordinate with customers and suppliers. They work closely with our in-house customs team to ensure efficient clearance, and collaborate with the USDA and FDA to maintain full regulatory compliance. This ensures your ingredients move seamlessly through every stage of import, arriving on time and ready for production with complete confidence. With decades of sourcing expertise and a strong commitment to customer success, you can count on Brothers International to deliver the premium ingredients your products require.
Industry Glossary
A Reference Guide for Fruit Ingredient Terminology
Check out our glossary for a consolidated reference of commonly used terminology across the global fruit ingredient industry. It provides straightforward definitions and context for the language and concepts referenced throughout the industry.
