BYRON CENTER, MI — Value-added produce packaging is now the leading business segment for Hearty Fresh Inc., located in a temperature-controlled warehouse, here.

“We are a custom repacker and do packaging,” said General Manager Nick Huizinga. “We promote our label ‘Hearty Fresh’.” But any private or customized label is available to customers, thanks to the firm’s three thermal printers.

Huizinga said his father Randy Huizinga, started the business in 1993 as a grower-packer-distributor. The distribution portion of the business has taken a back seat to the firm’s value-added segment, which has tripled in five years. Hearty Fresh receives truckloads of produce from growers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“The heart and soul” of the business is onions, Huizinga said. When The Produce News visited Hearty Fresh in mid-May, the Mexican onion deal was winding down.

The new style of colorful, retail bags are receiving high demand from Hearty Fresh customers.

The firm has enjoyed increased demand for brussels sprouts, which are packed in one-pound, grab-and-go bags. Green beans, lemons, limes, asparagus and cherries are also popular in this package with retail buyers.

“It’s been a big hit. It’s new this year and performing well,” Huizinga said of the new packaging. “It’s better than we hoped. Retailers love the resealable bags. They like the high-graphic looks and it’s good for food safety because consumers aren’t handling the product. We are doing more and more commodities in that style.”

While Hearty Fresh is starting with one-pound bags, a variety of weights can be offered. Commodities like zucchini, round and Roma tomatoes, pears, asparagus, peppers, and squash are offered in overwrapped trays. Cabbage and broccoli lead the way for being packaged in anti-fog shrink wrap film.

“We are very blessed with the opportunity to grow and take on different commodities,” he said.

Truck rates from Florida or California to Byron Center is the same cost, which this spring was about $5,000 or a little more. Value is added to those items at Hearty Fresh, then, seven days a week, mixed full truckloads of products are shipped to retailers in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

The 100,000-square-foot Hearty Fresh facility is Primus and GFS food-safety certified.

Hearty Fresh patriarch Randy Huizinga heads the firm’s growing operations and Randy’s other son, Dylan, is an accountant for the firm.

Nick Huizinga said worker loyalty has been an integral part of company success. “We have little or no turnover,” he noted.

Many of the firm’s employees are second generation at Hearty Fresh. “I packed celery with them when I was 12 years old,” he added.

At the firm, “We have fun every day,” Huizinga said. “It’s not an easy business, but we are finding solutions to problems. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.”