STOCKTON, Calif. – As each box rolls along the conveyor belt, apple growers Bob Brocchini and Fred Podesta feel proud their names are written on it.
However, they admit there’s also pressure.
As growers, “we’re very cautious. Our names are with the company on the box and we want to make sure there’s quality,” said Bob Brocchini, gazing at the boxes bearing the Farmington Fresh name.
While a federal government inspector is present all the time to inspect the apples for defects and ensure they meet standards, Brocchini said there’s even a tougher person to satisfy.
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The customer.
Buyers regularly visit the packaging plant and can be tougher than federal officials. They demand – and expect – their apples to be exactly what they need.
Being closely involved with the customer has meant the growers know what products are desired. Some want high quality apples, some want the poorer ones. Some want their apples in bags, some in trays, some both, and the packaging must be in different sizes.
Podesta grows cherries, asparagus, grapes, onions and bell peppers and said the company provided a good opportunity for growers like him to sell to bigger chain markets. It gives them a base and they can build or alter their products to meet the needs of bigger customers.
Farmington Fresh packs over a million boxes a year and helps spread the costs.
“As markets develop we need to change … as we go along, and the company can do that,” Brocchini said.
Brocchini has apples and onions, plus some cherry trees which aren’t yet producing. Four of the partners have their own cherry operations. Some have packing facilities of their own. But working together to develop the apple packaging plant helped make their businesses stronger.
Lease rather than buy
Farmington Fresh is a three-year-old corporation with five major shareholders. The plant was financed through individual capital as well as bank loans. Rather than buying the property, the company established a long-term lease for the land.
The growers also looked carefully at how their plant was built. For example, the production line was made long so the apples don’t need to turn along the way. This avoids bruises.
The plant employs 130 people, while also incorporating some of the most advanced machinery in the industry. Cameras take pictures of the apples and check the color grade. Each apple is weighed, and a computer analyzes all the information and assigns the grade.
“If it wasn’t for the computers we wouldn’t be able to do this.”
While their Fuji and Granny Smith apples are popular because of the area’s favorable growing conditions – a long growing season and cool nights provide a better color as well as sweetness – the company is interested in developing ways to make those apples more popular.
Coming soon to the West Coast are sliced apples in a 100 gram plastic bag, designed to have a shelf life of 17 days.
The process took a year and a half to develop by a company in Philadelphia, while Farmington Fresh developed the machinery to store the apple’s freshness in the bag. The process retains the color and flavor the consumer wants, but also the shelf life, Brocchini said.
The growers enjoy the price the new product can get: It will probably retail at 59 to 69 cents per bag.
The main market being sought is the food service industry, such as cafeterias and schools.
