Five Crowns hires VP of retail sales, plans to build citrus packinghouse
Five Crowns hires VP of retail sales, plans to build citrus packinghouse
Five Crowns Marketing in Brawley, CA, has announced plans to build what will be the Imperial Valley's first citrus packinghouse and to do its own marketing for the fruit packed in the facility. In conjunction with that expansion, the company has also announced the hiring of Mike Maler as vice president of retail sales.
"Five Crowns has been a citrus grower for a number of years in the Imperial Valley, but we have never packed and marketed the product ourselves," said Bill Colace, co-owner of the company along with his brother Joe Colace. The new packing facility, which will be located in Calipatria, is a partnership of Five Crowns, two other growers -- the PRRK Group and Mark McBroom -- and "another individual who has been involved in citrus packing for over 25 years," Max Cardy, said Mr. Colace. "We will be handling [fruit from] Five Crowns, those growers and a few other smaller growers."
The facility, which is expected to be completed in July and to begin running fruit in August, will have the capacity to run more than 5 million packages, Mr. Colace said. "Our first year will probably be somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million." With new plantings coming into production from "ourselves and some of the other growers," he said, he expects this volume to "ramp up over the next five years."
After the January freeze, which affected citrus state-wide, there was some concern that the project might be delayed due to damage to bud sets for next season's crops. But "after assessing the situation, only a small percentage of the bud set on the front end was lost," according to a company press release. "The potential for a good crop is there," said Mr. Colace. "We are looking forward to packing and marketing a substantial amount of fruit in our new facility."
Lemons and grapefruit will be the main focus, "but we will also have Navels, cara caras, clementines and tangelos" and some other specialty citrus varieties, he said. The lemon season will run from September through February, grapefruit from October through May, clementines from January through March and various specialties from December through May, all packed and marketed under Five Crowns' "Majesty" label.
In the past, Five Crowns' citrus was packed and marketed by other companies. The new citrus-packing facility "will allow us to pack and label all the citrus," Mr. Colace said. The facility will have bagging capabilities, "which will allow us to put up a number of different custom packs," he said. "Everything is state of the art, and our customers can expect strict quality control" and strict maintenance of food safety standards.
In conjunction with the citrus expansion, Five Crowns has hired Mike Maler as vice president of retail sales, a newly created position. Mr. Maler was previously with Driscoll Strawberry Associates, where he was responsible for commodity management and retail sales for over 12 years, according to the press release. He holds a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Mr. Maler will be responsible for facilitating the retail program with citrus and will also "add tremendously to Five Crowns' other offerings," according to the release.
"We have a great deal of respect for Driscoll's, and with Mike's background, he will enhance our existing programs" in various commodities, said Mr. Colace.
"The opportunity to help one of the most respected shippers in California with their new citrus venture from the ground up is very exciting," said Mr. Maler. "I am thankful for my time with Driscoll, and my professional growth with them has put me in a position to take on this new challenge with Five Crowns."
According to Mr. Colace, Five Crowns has been in business since 1983. "Our main commodities then were cantaloupes and Iceberg lettuce. And then, as the years moved on, we became very involved in sweet corn. We now handle or grow up to 1,600 acres of corn during the spring deal" as well as asparagus, cantaloupes, honeydew melons, specialty melons and an assortment of winter vegetables, he said. "We market the majority of our product," although some of the winter vegetables are "marketed by other companies."
Five Crowns has been growing citrus for more than 10 years, "and in the past, we have had other packinghouses [pack and] sell it for us," he said. But with the growth of the citrus industry in the Imperial Valley, "we found ... that the valley needed a packinghouse. And since we are marketers also, we are going to handle the marketing, all under the 'Majestic' brand."
Handling sales at Five Crowns are Mr. Colace, Mr. Maler, Ryan Jones and Daren Van Dyke, who "acts as our vice president of marketing," said Mr. Colace.
"Five Crowns has been a citrus grower for a number of years in the Imperial Valley, but we have never packed and marketed the product ourselves," said Bill Colace, co-owner of the company along with his brother Joe Colace. The new packing facility, which will be located in Calipatria, is a partnership of Five Crowns, two other growers -- the PRRK Group and Mark McBroom -- and "another individual who has been involved in citrus packing for over 25 years," Max Cardy, said Mr. Colace. "We will be handling [fruit from] Five Crowns, those growers and a few other smaller growers."
The facility, which is expected to be completed in July and to begin running fruit in August, will have the capacity to run more than 5 million packages, Mr. Colace said. "Our first year will probably be somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million." With new plantings coming into production from "ourselves and some of the other growers," he said, he expects this volume to "ramp up over the next five years."
After the January freeze, which affected citrus state-wide, there was some concern that the project might be delayed due to damage to bud sets for next season's crops. But "after assessing the situation, only a small percentage of the bud set on the front end was lost," according to a company press release. "The potential for a good crop is there," said Mr. Colace. "We are looking forward to packing and marketing a substantial amount of fruit in our new facility."
Lemons and grapefruit will be the main focus, "but we will also have Navels, cara caras, clementines and tangelos" and some other specialty citrus varieties, he said. The lemon season will run from September through February, grapefruit from October through May, clementines from January through March and various specialties from December through May, all packed and marketed under Five Crowns' "Majesty" label.
In the past, Five Crowns' citrus was packed and marketed by other companies. The new citrus-packing facility "will allow us to pack and label all the citrus," Mr. Colace said. The facility will have bagging capabilities, "which will allow us to put up a number of different custom packs," he said. "Everything is state of the art, and our customers can expect strict quality control" and strict maintenance of food safety standards.
In conjunction with the citrus expansion, Five Crowns has hired Mike Maler as vice president of retail sales, a newly created position. Mr. Maler was previously with Driscoll Strawberry Associates, where he was responsible for commodity management and retail sales for over 12 years, according to the press release. He holds a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Mr. Maler will be responsible for facilitating the retail program with citrus and will also "add tremendously to Five Crowns' other offerings," according to the release.
"We have a great deal of respect for Driscoll's, and with Mike's background, he will enhance our existing programs" in various commodities, said Mr. Colace.
"The opportunity to help one of the most respected shippers in California with their new citrus venture from the ground up is very exciting," said Mr. Maler. "I am thankful for my time with Driscoll, and my professional growth with them has put me in a position to take on this new challenge with Five Crowns."
According to Mr. Colace, Five Crowns has been in business since 1983. "Our main commodities then were cantaloupes and Iceberg lettuce. And then, as the years moved on, we became very involved in sweet corn. We now handle or grow up to 1,600 acres of corn during the spring deal" as well as asparagus, cantaloupes, honeydew melons, specialty melons and an assortment of winter vegetables, he said. "We market the majority of our product," although some of the winter vegetables are "marketed by other companies."
Five Crowns has been growing citrus for more than 10 years, "and in the past, we have had other packinghouses [pack and] sell it for us," he said. But with the growth of the citrus industry in the Imperial Valley, "we found ... that the valley needed a packinghouse. And since we are marketers also, we are going to handle the marketing, all under the 'Majestic' brand."
Handling sales at Five Crowns are Mr. Colace, Mr. Maler, Ryan Jones and Daren Van Dyke, who "acts as our vice president of marketing," said Mr. Colace.
