Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/887673
Produce Show Daily Saturday, October 21, 2017 4 0 An interview with Elvia Devine, Chief Executive Officer, Devine Organics LLC. PSD: Why organic asparagus and blue- berries? ED: First we wanted to farm crops which were a good fit for the Fresno- Coalinga climate conditions. Both do exceptionally well in the valley. Second, we wanted to focus on items that had the potential to deliver the greatest possible benefit for organic shoppers. Case in point, organic aspara- gus and blueberries are both super foods. PSD: Where else do you farm besides California, and why? ED: Once our organic farming of asparagus and blueberries matured in California, we started to get visitors Devine Organics Offers Organic Asparagus & Blueberries from Mexico and Peru. Likeminded growers who were interested in organic farming, but were unsure of next steps and concerned by the complexities involved. My husband Don and I are sociable people; he was born in Kentucky while I came to California from Jalisco. We enjoy making friends with other farms. We have also seen a learning opportunity in the collabora- tion with farmers from far away, exchanging ideas of what works best in their circumstances of organic farming. Eventually we bought land in Baja and built a facility, but in other cases we established joint ventures and long term farming agreements. PSD: Don't organic farmers and shop- pers often insist on locally grown? ED: Many do and I support the local farmers' markets most every weekend. However, the organic movement has to grow beyond the industri- alized nations in order to make a lasting impact. We are not able to dictate arable land utilization in less developed nations and in some of the most fragile ecosystems of our world, but we may be able to help promote organic farming in these regions and pre- vent the introduction of agrochemicals into the water tables. We believe that organic farming is a form of market driven environmentalism. PSD: What does the future looks like for organic asparagus and blueberry farming? ED: Conventional farming will be taken over by organic farming in asparagus in the next 20 years, maybe sooner. There will be a tipping point where large retailers will no longer carry conventional asparagus. Asparagus shoppers in general are sophisticated and affluent; they demand organic and will pay for it. At one point it will also make no sense for retailers to carry con- ventional and organic SKUs. The blueberry mar- ket has to further mature before the larger market will transition from con- ventional to organic. PSD: What does the future looks like for Devine Organics? ED: We continue to diversify our organic farming in the United States, Mexico and Peru. We continue to search for microclimates that have plenty of water and an optimum climate to pro- duce organic asparagus and blueberries. We will continue to not worry about the daily gyration of markets, but focus on servicing our customers with the fresh- est products. We are humbled by the confidence and loyalty our customers show us and we hope to be deserving it well into the future. For more information, stop by booth #4401 or go to www.devineorganics.us. An interview with David Byrne, Vice President, Sales, Thermal Technologies, Inc. PSD: Thermal Tech has installed over 3,000 ripening rooms in North America since 1994. That must give you pretty good insight into the retail banana trade. DB: Considering over 70 percent of all bananas ripened in North America are ripened in Thermal Tech rooms, I guess you can say we're in a pretty unique posi- tion. We work with all major growers and nearly all of the top grocery retailers across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, so we're deeply involved on both sides of the equation. PSD: You said quality control has become more important than sourcing, both for the big exporters as well as the large retailers. What's changed? Quality Control in the New Banana Supply Chain DB: Back in the 1980s, the 'Big Three' global banana traders, Chiquita, Dole and DelMonte, controlled more than 65 per- cent of all global banana exports. By 2013, that total was down to just 37 percent. This reflects a shift away from plantation own- ership and production by the Big Three towards post-production and supply chain logistics. So now you have the Big Three as well as some larger retailers and whole- salers sourcing bananas from multiple growers, then marketing and distributing them under a single brand. This has shifted the conversation away from sourcing to how to maximize quality and consistency at the point-of-sale with fruit coming from multiple sources. PSD: How is this impacting the indus- try? DB: Interestingly enough, I believe the new emphasis on retail quality has actual- ly made things better. It's created a new partnership mentality in which all the stakeholders share the same common goal. In this new environment, the ripening operation pulls together the varied interests of grower, marketer, wholesaler and retailer, all of whom have a vested interest in providing consistent, high quality fruit, whether it comes from one supplier or many. It's been good for us, too. We recently doubled our manufac- turing floor space from 40,000 to 80,000 square feet just to keep pace with orders. PSD: How does this new model differ from the way things worked in the past? DB: Due to the sheer size and volume of some of our retail customers, this new focus on retail quality often puts com- petitors on the same team. We've ended up working side-by-side with more than one of the major suppliers for the same retailer at the same time. While this was nearly unheard of in the past, this new partnership mentality makes good busi- ness sense today, where the needs of the large retailers drive the market. PSD: How do you see these changes impacting the marketplace in the years ahead? DB: While the shift of market power towards retailers has created opportunities for smaller growers and suppliers, the sheer size and market reach of the Big Three along with value-added services and marketing means they will continue to have a powerful influence on the industry. But as retailers continue to diversify with more growers providing a greater variety of organics and other banana types, there's also no doubt that ripening will play an increasingly impor- tant role in making sure all these products reach the consumer with the predictable high quality and consistency the market demands. For more information, visit booth #2853 or contact David Byrne at 803.461.7980. TarpLess is a registered trademark of Thermal Technologies, Inc. Learn more at www.gotarpless.com. The Snoboy Triple-Inspected Produce Advantage: It's In the Field For fresh produce brand Snoboy, it's all about having people in the fields to work with its growers to verify quality and availability on your behalf every step of the way. This presence allows product to be triple inspected prior to your customer receiving it. "We are source-based, meaning we are on the ground actually looking at everything we pack in Snoboy," said Jim Richter, President. "We can verify the quality of the product available from our growers first hand prior to harvest, during harvest and when it ships, which makes a huge difference to our customers." "Our people in the field are experts on the produce grown in their area," said Richter. "They keep a close eye on local market conditions and the quality in the field, which allows them to best match customers' needs and expectations to the product." "A lot of Snoboy's competitors con- duct business with the growers from only one region and cover other areas strictly by phone. If you're not in the fields in every area, you can't verify the true qual- ity of the product," Richter said. Snoboy has solved this issue with its quality assurance associates in the field. Having representatives at the source in every major growing area in the U.S. gives Snoboy a major advantage in the competitive produce marketing arena. Snoboy offers cus- tomers a true independ- ent voice from the best growing areas in the U.S. and can do all the work of finding the best quality and deals for cus- tomers. Richter said, "Sometimes it's not just about price. There is usually a price spread for a prod- uct in a certain region that can be affected by the quality, the quantity and even the size of the acreage produced by the grow- er. In addition, because Snoboy buys such a huge volume from so many growers, the company can offer its customers the advantage of consistent quality through- out the year, even when supply is scarce." Its proximity to the fields, orchards and production areas allows the branch's quality assurance staff to take an active role in determining what growers, fields or blocks of fields are chosen for customers. Being so close to the source, quality assurance staff can assure that raw prod- uct attributes meet strict writ- ten standards and specifica- tions before packing. The active role Snoboy takes on its customers' behalf means that customers receive produce with consistently high- quality levels of freshness, color, size and flavor. Snoboy delivers this any time of year to anywhere it is needed, regardless of weather or seasons. "If we are not saving customers time and trouble plus delivering the very best quality possible, we are not doing our job," said Richter. For more information, visit booth #1253 at Fresh Summit or visit online at www.amerifresh.com.