Wawona and Moonlight jointly form new entity
Wawona and Moonlight jointly form new entity
Two major California fruit growers-packers-shippers announced that they have formed a new entity to manage international import and export sales and market for the collective organization.
Wawona Packing Co. LLC in Cutler, CA, and Moonlight Packing Corp. in Reedley, CA, have formed Wawona Moonlight Global LLC and will import and export stone fruit, grapes, blueberries and citrus commodities.
“Both companies have seen profound production growth complementing their domestic distribution and have prioritized their desire to expand into the global produce market,” according to a press release.
Both companies rank among the top-20 stone fruit growers in the United States, according to a 2010 ranking by American/Western Fruit Grower magazine, with Wawona holding the No. 2 spot.
Leading the sales effort at Wawona Moonlight Global LLC will be Tina Haga, who previously handled export sales at Fruit Patch Sales in Dinuba, CA, and who has 14 years of experience in produce imports and exports.
The new entity “will work out of both Wawona headquarters in Cutler and Moonlight headquarters in Reedley,” the press release stated.
Russ Tavlan, president of Moonlight Packing, told The Produce News that neither parent company has been previously involved in export sales, but both companies have “great domestic patronage.” It is the desire of both companies to “replicate that in the export arena,” he said. “Even with our rapid growth [in volume], we do not have enough volume individually” to meet the demands of an export program, so “the best way to achieve that is to pool our volume.”
He did not specify which export markets would be targeted initially.
The fall commodities mentioned in the release refer mainly to pomegranates and persimmons, Mr. Tavlan said. The citrus commodities are basically “wintertime citrus.”
There are no plans to introduce a new label for the export program, he said. Rather, Wawona Moonlight Global will be exporting products under the existing labels of the parent companies.
On the import side, he said, “We are excited about important Southern Hemisphere fruit in the winter season.” Initially at least, that will primarily involve exports from Chile. “Our primary focus is going to be our soft fruit,” he said.
