New cold storage at Columbine Vineyards
New cold storage at Columbine Vineyards
A new state-of-the-art cold storage facility is now operational for Columbine Vineyards. “The new facility measures in at 204,200 square-feet, roughly 3.5 times the size of an American football field, and can store 750,000 boxes of produce when full,” said Lauren Olcott, marketing representative.
Claire Caratan and Lauren Olcott of Columbine Vineyards with the new Petit Bag.The family-owned-and-operated company has been a table grape grower, packer and shipper since 1926. Fifteen varieties of red, black and green grapes are grown and marketed to the company’s customer base, comprised of retailers, wholesalers, international customers and buying brokers. A small percentage of Columbine’s grape volume is sold to foodservice.
“Domestically we use the ‘Columbine’ and ‘MC’ labels. We have several export labels that are used depending on the destination,” Olcott told The Produce News.
“At Columbine Vineyards, we are dedicated to providing the best quality table grapes and, like in previous years, we will continue to provide the world with high-quality and flavorful table grapes,” said Sales Manager Anthony Stetson. “The volume and quality this year will be along the same lines as last year.”
Columbine is dealing with water shortages head-on. “Water has been a difficult issue for many farmers and growers in our area, and we are currently taking action to receive more water by drilling new wells and expanding on existing ones,” said Stetson.
Turning at marketing, Olcott said Columbine has created a Petit Bag to add depth to its current product mix. “This bag uses the same graphics and style of our everyday eco-friendly bag, but is reduced in size to hold one to 1.25 pounds of grapes,” she commented. “Last year, we tested the packaging in different regions throughout the US and in Asia. Columbine received positive feedback from the buyers and, as a result, we’ll be expanding the Petite Bag in all PLUs for the upcoming season.”
Columbine has also announced its new proprietary green seedless brand, “Milano.”