Murakami continues hand-sorting tradition for assured quality
Murakami continues hand-sorting tradition for assured quality
Although technology continues to usher in new automation to the onion industry with rapid-fire regularity, some aspects of customer service are literally best left in the hands of the shippers, according to Grant Kitamura, general manager of Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR.
“Our harvest is now primarily automated, but we still hand sort,” Kitamura said in early September. “Nothing beats the human eye in determining size, shape and color of onions. Auto sorting is not perfected enough yet, and we will continue to do it the old-fashioned way to give our customers what they have come to expect.”
Kitamura said the company had started shipping early varieties of its new-crop onions in August, noting, “We started early but slowly. Our storage crop is a little later this year — we will start harvest in mid-September.”
Grant KitamuraWater shortages and high temperatures were both factors in the crop, and Kitamura said July has gone down as the seventh hottest on record. But he said, “Our crop looks to be average size, and the quality is very good. We did have some spring hail, but the onions were not affected by it. So overall we are looking forward to good volume and good quality throughout the season.”
Earlier this year the ownership of Murakami expanded when a group of six grower entities purchased the shares of retiring owner David Murakami.
The group formed Murakami Growers LLC and has committed 100 percent of its collective crop to Murakami Produce.
On the sales end, Murakami has for several years partnered with Idaho Falls-based Potandon Produce and sees sales out of both offices.
Onions are shipped from the Ontario facility, one of the largest in the region with a quarter-million square feet of insulated on-site storage for 75,000 bins, each with capacity for 1,500 pounds of field-run onions.
A third Volm consumer packaging machine added this year provides more consumer options, Kitamura said, packing 40-pound RPC as well as 25- and 50-pound boxes and three-pound retail consumer bags.
“We’ve seen more demand for reds, and we have them,” Kitamura said. He added that although foodservice comprises the majority of onion sales for Murakami, retail demand has increased during the sluggish economy.
To meet customer needs, Kitamura said Murakami Produce will “continue to grow our business and are looking to expand our storage and production.”
