As always, Baldor Specialty Foods, headquartered in the Bronx, NY, has many new projects in the works or in the planning stage for launch. One is its current expansion at its Hunts Point facility. Full coverage of the expansion project was reported on page 80 of the April 18 edition of The Produce News headlined, “Baldor Specialty Foods evolving in every possible way.”

Baldor needs the space because it is constantly expanding into new product lines and products and new and exciting programs. Company President Michael Muzyk told The Produce News there are only a few ways it can grow its business.

“We already have a solid distribution footprint from Maine to Virginia with our Boston and our Washington, DC, locations,” he said. “And we’re now sending two full trailer loads a week to our distribution partner in Miami. Expanding out further isn’t an option at this time.”

Another way is if the company brings in new product lines, which Muzyk said it does constantly.

“We can also grow through acquisition merger purchases of other companies and fold them into ours,” he added. “We’ve done that and we continue to explore this strategy. People frequently contact us suggesting we fold their business into ours, but not all are a good fit. We are a little quirky and unorthodox, but we know our vision, and we’ve done a darn good job so far. We want to engage in partnerships we believe will be successful for everyone involved.”

Baldor’s Boston operation opened three years ago, and it’s already looking for a larger space. A year later it opened its Washington, DC, facility, which it bought, and plans are underway to begin architectural drawings for future expansions and changes there.

“We always have a lot of balls in the air, and we keep them well juggled,” said Muzyk.

Baldor is highly responsive to calls from the community, government and other organizations, and Muzyk and his colleagues, including TJ Murphy, owner and chief executive officer, try to always respond in helpful ways.

Muzyk was elected to the board of directors of United Fresh on March 20, 2015, after having served on United’s Wholesaler Distributor Board. Baldor is dedicated to giving back to the local community. It is involved with local outreach organizations such as Edible Schoolyard, City Harvest, City Meals-on-Wheels and NYC Foodbanks.

“I’ve been asked by a New York senator for my help in a three-year program to build a food hub in the Rochester area,” explained Muzyk. “I went to Washington, DC, and sat in a room with a dozen members of just about every government food-related acronym you can imagine. I had to ask myself what some of them have to do with a food hub, and why do a dozen branches of the government need to be involved?

“A true food hub is to help farmers,” he continued. “If you need a truck, a warehouse, delivery assistance or any other aspect, the hub is there to assist.”

He explained that a plan needs to be precise in what it’s helping farmers to do, and there are inherent issues farmers must deal with. One is New York’s short growing season. And farmers need to do more than just farm; they need post-harvest chilling. Product that comes out of the ground at 76-78 degrees needs to be brought down to 36-40 degrees within a couple of hours in order to maintain the nutrition and freshness.

“Some agencies don’t understand the process,” added Muzyk. “They think farmers can harvest product, put it in a box and send it to Hunts Point. We are a major proponent of a centralized warehouse in the Syracuse region that can take post-harvest product and deal with it properly. This is obvious in our dedication to local farmers.

“We need to start by asking ourselves what we can do now, next year and the year after that will help us reach our goals. We would like to see this come to fruition in the right way.”