Murakami heads into 2016 ahead of last year
Murakami heads into 2016 ahead of last year
An early start to the 2015-16 shipping season for Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, has the company, and most of the Treasure Valley, ahead in onion shipments over the same date in 2014.
Grant Kitamura, president and general manager of Murakami, said Nov. 13 that a slowdown in early November was giving way to holiday demand and the region remains “optimistic for the long run.”
Grant Kitamura
He said, “We’re still about 1,200 loads ahead of last year for our growing area, and that’s a bright spot.”
Kitamura said the red market remains strong, and yellows are “stabilized with more demand.”
At Murakami, he said, “We put quite a few onions in cold storage to ensure quality next spring.”
The company started shipping Aug. 10, and Kitamura said at that time the early crop was nearly two weeks ahead of normal. Storage onions also matured ahead of their normal schedule as a result of triple-digit temperatures in late June and early July.
Murakami has reported good quality and range of sizes, and prior to the holiday demand for Christmas tree hauling, transportation was easier than the previous year. Kitamura also said the opening of ports along the West Coast had helped with exports out of the Northwest.
Looking ahead at upgrades, Kitamura said Murakami is investigating new software for packing and shipping efficiency.
“We’re looking into automated infrared packaging possibly by the 2016-17 season,” he said, adding that Cameron Skeen, who came on in June in operations and business development, is “the driving force” in software upgrades.