Booth Ranches down but not out
Booth Ranches down but not out
In the wake of the prolonged mid-January freeze that devastated much of California's citrus crop, a rumor spread that Booth Ranches LLC in Orange Cove, CA, had thrown in the towel for the remainder of the season on its orange harvesting and laid off its entire sales and marketing team. Not so, according to Loren Booth, the company's general manager.
Although Booth Ranches did suffer severe losses to its on-tree citrus crop and did lay off a portion of its marketing staff, the company continues to harvest and pack fruit and continues to do its own marketing.
"We are not completely out," Ms. Booth told The Produce News Feb. 1. "We don't have a lot to sell, but we have some."
Furthermore, "we didn't lay off all of our marketing staff," she said. "We laid off part of it," but Merriesue Olsen, who is in her second season with Booth Ranches, continues with the company and will handle the sales of what is left of the weather-shortened 2007 Navel crop.
Whether the company will harvest any fruit from its 842 acres of Valencia oranges is still uncertain. The Valencia harvest is still some months away, and the extent of the damage cannot yet be fully assessed.
In all, Booth Ranches farms close to 6,000 acres of California citrus, primarily Navels. This is the first season in its 49-year history that the company is doing all of its own sales and marketing in-house, according to Ms. Booth. The company began a transition in that direction during the 2005-06 marketing season when "we did a blended marketing with DNE," she said. DNE had handled Booth's sales for several years, but last year, Ms. Olsen was brought in to do some in-house sales.
For the current marketing year, Dan Spain was hired as vice president of sales and marketing and was joined on the sales desk by Norm Gatineau, Keith Ford and Troy Turner. Ms. Booth did not specify which of the four were laid off and which left of their own volition. It was "a tough decision to make," she said. "But there was no way to carry a staff that heavy through to next November."
Although Booth Ranches did suffer severe losses to its on-tree citrus crop and did lay off a portion of its marketing staff, the company continues to harvest and pack fruit and continues to do its own marketing.
"We are not completely out," Ms. Booth told The Produce News Feb. 1. "We don't have a lot to sell, but we have some."
Furthermore, "we didn't lay off all of our marketing staff," she said. "We laid off part of it," but Merriesue Olsen, who is in her second season with Booth Ranches, continues with the company and will handle the sales of what is left of the weather-shortened 2007 Navel crop.
Whether the company will harvest any fruit from its 842 acres of Valencia oranges is still uncertain. The Valencia harvest is still some months away, and the extent of the damage cannot yet be fully assessed.
In all, Booth Ranches farms close to 6,000 acres of California citrus, primarily Navels. This is the first season in its 49-year history that the company is doing all of its own sales and marketing in-house, according to Ms. Booth. The company began a transition in that direction during the 2005-06 marketing season when "we did a blended marketing with DNE," she said. DNE had handled Booth's sales for several years, but last year, Ms. Olsen was brought in to do some in-house sales.
For the current marketing year, Dan Spain was hired as vice president of sales and marketing and was joined on the sales desk by Norm Gatineau, Keith Ford and Troy Turner. Ms. Booth did not specify which of the four were laid off and which left of their own volition. It was "a tough decision to make," she said. "But there was no way to carry a staff that heavy through to next November."
