New Wawona facility will be triple the size of the old one
New Wawona facility will be triple the size of the old one
Wawona Packing Co. LLC in Cultler, CA, has torn down its old 60,000-square-foot stone fruit packing facility and is in the process of building a new 180,000-square-foot facility in its place, according to Brent Smittcamp, the company's president.
Over the past three to five years, the company has "planted quite a bit of acreage," he said. The new orchards are now coming into production, so "we need a larger facility."
As part of the expansion, "we are adding three cold storage rooms," he said. "The remainder will be new offices and a new packingshed."
The targeted completion date for the construction is May 1, the same date that Wawona expects its first stone fruit variety of the season. "It's going to be real tight," Mr. Smittcamp acknowledged.
For the 2006 season, the company's existing packing equipment will be reinstalled in the new facility. But an all-new state-of-the-art packingline will be in place for the 2007 season.
"Right now we are designing" the new line, he told The Produce News March 15. "We just about have the design complete. We are going to put that out to bid" and it will be built during the summer. "We plan on installing that sometime in September of this year."
Wawona moved its packing operation from Clovis, CA, to Cutler, CA, in January 2000, taking over an existing facility there. In the years since, "we made numerous additions," Mr. Smittcamp said. "Last year, we put in a state-of-the-art preconditioning room and precooler that came on stream right before the season."
The company has about 40,000 square feet of cold storage on the east side of where the old packingshed stood and another 15,000 square feet of cold storage on the west side. Those remain in place, and the old building in between was torn down to make way for the new construction. With the additional cold storage, Wawona will now have roughly 70,000 square feet of cold storage.
The company grows, packs and markets peaches, plums, nectarines, Pluots, white-flesh peaches and nectarines, apricots and prunes. It also grows a small acreage of cherries, but those are packed and marketed by another company.
"We are currently farming about 3,800 acres, and our volume this year should be somewhere around 2.8 million packages," Mr. Smittcamp said.
Over the past three to five years, the company has "planted quite a bit of acreage," he said. The new orchards are now coming into production, so "we need a larger facility."
As part of the expansion, "we are adding three cold storage rooms," he said. "The remainder will be new offices and a new packingshed."
The targeted completion date for the construction is May 1, the same date that Wawona expects its first stone fruit variety of the season. "It's going to be real tight," Mr. Smittcamp acknowledged.
For the 2006 season, the company's existing packing equipment will be reinstalled in the new facility. But an all-new state-of-the-art packingline will be in place for the 2007 season.
"Right now we are designing" the new line, he told The Produce News March 15. "We just about have the design complete. We are going to put that out to bid" and it will be built during the summer. "We plan on installing that sometime in September of this year."
Wawona moved its packing operation from Clovis, CA, to Cutler, CA, in January 2000, taking over an existing facility there. In the years since, "we made numerous additions," Mr. Smittcamp said. "Last year, we put in a state-of-the-art preconditioning room and precooler that came on stream right before the season."
The company has about 40,000 square feet of cold storage on the east side of where the old packingshed stood and another 15,000 square feet of cold storage on the west side. Those remain in place, and the old building in between was torn down to make way for the new construction. With the additional cold storage, Wawona will now have roughly 70,000 square feet of cold storage.
The company grows, packs and markets peaches, plums, nectarines, Pluots, white-flesh peaches and nectarines, apricots and prunes. It also grows a small acreage of cherries, but those are packed and marketed by another company.
"We are currently farming about 3,800 acres, and our volume this year should be somewhere around 2.8 million packages," Mr. Smittcamp said.
