A little over a year has passed since Aurora Products moved into its new state-of-the-art headquarters in Orange, CT. Aurora, which opened its doors in 1998, offers a full line of natural and organic dried fruits, nuts, trail mixes, salad toppings and granolas. None of Aurora’s products contain preservatives, artificial colors or additives.

This is the fifth move the company has made to accommodate its growing business.

Vice President Matthew Blackwell said the move was a positive one for the company. “After first moving in, there were a few ‘growing pains’ that we had to work through. Regardless of how much planning you do, there are always unforeseen issues and questions that pop up,” he told The Produce News. “In addition, we ended up moving in while there was still work to do on the exterior of the building. That first month was slow going as people adjusted to the new facility and our team became familiar with the new flow. Fortunately, we saw a healthy increase in our efficiencies after settling in. We were fortunate to be able to lay out and design the floor plan in a way which accommodated our product flow, as opposed to at our previous facility where we made sacrifices to accommodate the space available.”

Aurora Products plans to offer special gold and red polka dotted boxes filled with healthful dried fruits, nuts and specialty items during the holiday season. (Photo courtesy of Aurora Products)Blackwell said a high premium was placed on quality, energy savings and ergonomic considerations during the planning process. “For example, we now have fast rollup doors which open automatically with their sensors, and separate areas of the building dedicated to sanitation,” he explained. “Even now, however, we are finding that the 100,000 square feet is not enough for us.”

The company is in the early stages of planning for another addition on the south side of its property. “Fortunately, the town of Orange has been very accommodating, and we have a great team of engineers and contractors assisting us — though I believe that this time around, we’ll know a little bit more about the process,” he added.

Stephanie Blackwell, owner of Aurora Products, said construction of the additional 40,000-square-foot expansion will begin in 2015.

According to Paul Bellacero, director of sales development, business has been great. “The organic and all natural segment continues to grow and Aurora along with it,” he commented. “There are always new flavor trends. Aurora has created four new flavor profiles for trail mixes: Captain’s Tavern mix, Bombay mix, K5 mix and Nuts & Berries organic mix.”

Each of these new flavors was formulated by Aurora’s research and development team headed by Roshna Nair. “They will be available for everyone to taste at the PMA show in Anaheim,” he said.

The company has state-of-the-art roast oil and dry roasters, flavoring nuts on site. “This gives us the advantage of quality control and consistency in the taste,” Bellacero said. New flavors include Barbecue, Curry, Tamari and Tuscan Herb.

Aurora has set its corporate bar high. “Aurora is known as a leader in product innovation,” Bellacero stated. “Customers and competitors alike watch to see what’s new at Aurora. With the addition of our new kitchen, there will be even more trendy products to come.”

The company has seen an annual growth rate of 12 percent, which Bellacero attributed to “a growing customer base, new and trendy products and a great sales team.”

On the marketing side, he said innovation extends into the area of packaging. “This includes holiday boxes, both gold and red polka dot boxes with bows,” he stated. “A gift that looks good and is also healthy is better than the normal candies. We will also be giving out coupons at all our trade shows for online purchasing. [The coupons are] good through the holidays, so you can buy the new gift boxes.”

Aurora has acquired a new distributor in the South which opens up a new market in seven states. “We now have one West Coast distributor on board which will allow us to expand our business to a national level. In addition, we have developed a market in club stores and expanded to additional alternative markets such as W.B. Mason,” said Sue Hartnett, also a director of sales development. “We are currently working with three military contractors through one of our Mid-Atlantic distributors and hope to have additional commissaries on board by the end of the year.”