Greengate Fresh LLP, which was founded almost three years ago, is expanding its product line as it switches production to the winter vegetable deal this year.

“We are adding a spring mix and a spinach pack to our offerings,” said Jay Iverson, vice president of sales and marketing for the Salinas, CA-based firm.

David Root, regional sales representative and Jay Iverson, vice president of sales and marketing at Greengate Fresh stand by their booth at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Convention and Expo in Anaheim, CA.Greengate, which is concentrating on the core commodities in the foodservice end of the business, shipped its first product in January of 2010. The firm was founded by its four partners: Chief Executive Officer Robby Barkley, Chief Operating Officer Travis Pendleton, Vice President of Procurement Keith Bazabal and Mr. Iverson.

“The extension of the line into spring mix and spinach was a natural. It complements our other lines very well,” Mr. Iverson said.

At the same time, the company has added capacity in its desert processing facility by adding a couple of wash line and packing stations. Mr. Iverson said Greengate has experienced month over month growth every month that it has been in existence so the expansion is a chance “to get ahead of the curve.”

He said it does represent optimistic thinking but it is optimism created by about 34 months of growth. “I like to say I am a salaried optimist,” he quipped, adding that all of agriculture is a risk, and that includes expanding a facility and the capacity, and then going out and selling the extra product. “But we continue to gain traction. We aren’t growing by leaps and bounds but we are growing one brick at a time.”

He said foodservice sales have been fairly good but he is not quite ready to declare that the recession is over and the economy is booming.

“Let’s put it this way, at the very, very least we have hit rock bottom and it is starting to turnaround. People are going out again.”

He admitted that part of that turnaround may be people just adjusting to a new normal by altering their patterns or downgrading where they go out for that occasional restaurant meal. And he added that he knows a lot of people are still struggling and he is sensitive to that reality.

Greengate also has a lot of business in the institutional field including school districts. With the mandate that schools increase the nutritional value of the meals they serve to children, Mr. Iverson said those buyers are looking for more healthy alternatives.

“They are all looking for products that are more green,” he said. “Some have switched 100 percent from iceberg to romaine; others are looking for a good mix.”

He said it has been difficult to determine the exact nutritional values that will meet the new guidelines, but there is a lot of pressure to move in that direction.