RJO the eyes and ears of its clients
RJO the eyes and ears of its clients
With a cadre of “bird dogs” looking at the California fields, vineyards and orchards on a daily basis, RJO Produce Marketing Inc. in Fresno, CA, has focused its efforts on being the ears and eyes on the ground for its customers — especially those on the East Coast.
“We are not your typical broker model,” said Clint Lucas, an account manager for the firm. “We do whatever our customer needs us to do, including buying, category management and inspections. Inspections have become a big part of what we do.”
Rob O’Rourke, Fred Valentino, Jeff Colvard, Clinton Lucas and John O’Rourke of RJO Produce Marketing.He said the firm has developed its own smartphone inspection app that allows the bird dogs to go out into the field, take pictures and file a report with a “Bird Dog Quality Score” in a very timely fashion. The ultimate buyer can see what he is purchasing along with an unbiased, third-party assessment. The bird dogs are RJO employees that can be full-timers, part-timers or interns. Lucas said the firm works closely with Fresno State University’s agriculture department to identify potential employees and staff its team, especially during the heavy summer shipping months, when there are more fields to walk.
Talking to buyers as well as shippers all day long gives the RJO staff a good handle on trends in the industry. Lucas said there is great interest in the stand-up pouch bag. It might have started with grapes, cherries or peppers, but it has spread to the stone fruit industry. “It works especially well with the smaller fruit,” he said. “There might not be a lot of opportunities for 70-size fruit or smaller, but you put it in a pouch bag and all of a sudden you have a nice presentation. It’s another way to get creative with the smaller fruit.”
While there has been lots of talk about lack of water as California suffers through its fourth year of drought, Lucas said that it appears as if almost all the growers have at least adequate water to handle this year’s needs. “It’s definitely a challenging situation, but it looks like growers have wells and other sources to get them through the season,” he relayed. “But we really do need Mother Nature to cooperate and do her part.”
Other than its new group of interns that come aboard every summer, Lucas said, “at RJO we have the same cast of characters this year as we have had in the past.” He reiterated that the group is ready and willing to customize its services to the need of customers across the country.
