JJB Family Farms maintains flexibility in helping customers achieve goals
JJB Family Farms maintains flexibility in helping customers achieve goals
JJB Family Farms, based in Stockton, CA, puts a high value on technology.
It has installed Eqraft bin handling systems in recent years and there are plans to add automatic bin tippers to ensure a smooth flow of onions throughout its packinghouse.
But there’s another critical area where ag technology is having a profound effect on quality, said Derrell Kelso, JJB Family Farms manager — the fields where onions are grown.
“There’s a lot of investment being done in automation,” Kelso said. “It’s great for this industry because it’s giving a better product for the retail shelf or foodservice operator — and good quality sells better. There are also a lot of really great things going on out in the field that I’m not an expert at. We’re marketers. But we can see it starting to happen in the quality of the onions.”
Kelso cited automatic weeders that use artificial intelligence to zap weeds with lasers or uproot them with implements that can discern the weeds from the young onion plants.
Kelso and Loren Maltbie, who heads up JJB Family Farms’ inventory and customer management programs, along with transportation procurement, have been involved in selling onions since the late 1980s, and automation is converging at a time when there are other factors that are affecting the onion industry.
“I think the big thing we’re all noticing is that in the last couple of years is how the onion is so tied into the world market more today than it has been in the past,” Kelso said.
As for the JJB Farms’ packing line upgrades, that too has helped the company pack a better product, while decreasing overhead and increasing efficiencies.
Kelso pointed out that the company’s slogan is “Delight the World.”
“So that’s how we can do that, through quality service and being on time,” he said.
Packaging choices
The company has added to its sleeve-pack line, giving customers a one-pound, two-count onion sleeve. Kelso said the sleeve line has been popular at retail. Although it varies, the most common count in sleeves is four onions, with about 75 percent of the program. The company packs in three- and five-count sleeves as well, but those are less common. The three-five counts weigh about 2 pounds.
Like any packaged product vs. loose bulk, the sleeves guard against an incorrect ring at checkout, which becomes costlier with sweet and organic onions. Even if they left the packinghouse with a PLU sticker, onions can shed them as they lose layers of skin.
“A lot of sweet onions and bulk Washington or Idaho onions are sold right next to each other, with no PLU stickers,” Kelso said. “Unless you’re an onion guy, you don’t know the difference.”
Kelso keeps an open mind about packaging possibilities and figuring out how to present a product that consumers want to buy. He recently visited a store in Lodi, CA, an area with consumers who have a southeast Asian lineage, and was surprised to see shoppers with 50-pound bags of onions in their carts.
“I think that’s one area that a lot of retailers are missing out on,” he said. “I’m thinking about starting to mention it to some of my retailers, because I think they’re missing out.”
Kelso and Bob Freeman, director of sales, said they focus on customizing plans for retailers.
“If you’re a retailer and you’re working with us, the first thing you notice is that we don’t say ‘no,’” Kelso said. “We’re very flexible and we’re on board with a retailer promoting onions.
“We give our time and we give our resources,” he said.
