New facility accommodates increasing organic volume for Rainier
New facility accommodates increasing organic volume for Rainier
This past October, Rainier Fruit Co., located in Yakima, WA, opened its new dedicated organic packing facility.
Organic Sales Manager Blake Belknap said the facility was designed to accommodate the company’s increased volume of organic fruit.
“It was named the Green Line for obvious reasons,” he told The Produce News, noting that the facility includes specially insulated walls, LED lighting and over 300 solar array panels on the room to help power it.
“It gives us tremendous packing flexibility with extremely gentle fruit handling,” he added.
Andy Tudor, director of business development, provided a snapshot about the movement of the company’s organic apples and pears.
“With organic apples, the industry is generally halfway selling the crop by the first of the year. Pears are more like 80 percent shipped,” Tudor said.
“Due to the breadth of Rainier’s program, we are less shipped as a percentage, especially on desirable varieties like Honeycrisp, Gala and Fuji,” he added.
Tudor said the company’s organic program runs longer than most, and he attributed this extended marketing window to the geographic diversity of Rainier’s ranch locations.
“That said, August to June is about it on apples,” he commented. “Pears run August to February.”
Tudor said increasing consumer awareness about genetically modified organisms is having a positive impact on the growth of the organic fruit category.
“Our research indicates the biggest factors driving consumers to organic are a health scare or illness, having a child, more disposable income and increasing knowledge of GMOs and organic,” he said. “Consumers are learning that the only choice for certain non-GMO is organic.”
