Superior product, sound environmental practices ring strongly for Peri & Sons
Superior product, sound environmental practices ring strongly for Peri & Sons
CHICAGO -- Representatives from Peri & Sons Farms Inc., based in Yerington, NV, took advantage of floor space at the 2007 United Fresh Produce Association's Fresh Marketplace trade show, here, to tell visitors about exciting new developments at the company.
Peri & Sons began its operations in 1979, and today the family-owned company grows premium white, yellow, red and sweet onions at its 1,800- acre operation.
Talking about the trade show, Director of Marketing Tim Cummings said, "Our primary focus at Peri & Sons is promoting our sweet onion. We are here to talk to retail partners about [the trademarked] 'Sweetie Sweet.' "
Mr. Cummings said that the onion is a growing success, and redesigned packages featuring "Sweetie Sweet" will hit the marketplace soon. The upgraded packages also integrate new sweet onion recipes, which will provide consumers with interesting dishes to try at home.
"We're basically updating the entire Peri & Sons image," he said.
"We want to educate consumers about the differences between onions," Mr. Cummings told The Produce News.
He said that newly designed point-of-sale material is being made available at the retail level to educate shoppers and help retailers with product sales. Both conventional and organic onions are grown and marketed by Peri & Sons, and the company places strong emphasis on earth-friendly farming practices for its growing operations.
"We focus on environmentally safe production methods," Mr. Cummings stated. As a result, product has received Nutri-Clean certification, meaning that onions are certified 100 percent pesticide-free. Additionally, the company is GAP and GMP certified.
For the third year in a row, the company has earned a "Superior" food safety rating awarded by auditor Scientific Certification Systems. Mr. Cummings said that public awareness about food-safety issues continues to grow, and the company's policy of going green during the past 20 years means that Peri & Sons is ahead of the curve.
This year, Mr. Cummings said that the company is working to create a 12- month onion program. To keep farming and production standards high, Mr. Cummings said that Peri & Sons will source all its onions domestically, rather than rely on imports.
"This gives us control," Mr. Cummings said. "We want everything grown to be pure and clean."
Currently, all production acreage is located in Nevada, but Mr. Cummings said that Peri & Sons would expand its operations in other states in the near future.
Peri & Sons is also increasing the amount of organic acreage it intends to plant in the coming years. There are currently several hundred acres are under organic production.
In addition to its emphasis on premium product produced with environmentally responsible practices, Peri & Sons has just upgraded its partnership with CHEP to implement an electronic data interchange system to make its pallet-reporting program more efficient. The system is designed to help save labor and reduce cycle times.
Peri & Sons is now shipping its product on CHEP pallets to supermarkets and foodservice distributors throughout the United States. The pallets are designed to help reduce product damage during distribution.
"Peri & Sons is the latest major grower to see significant financial and customer service benefits from the CHEP program," said Tim Smith of CHEP USA.
Peri & Sons began its operations in 1979, and today the family-owned company grows premium white, yellow, red and sweet onions at its 1,800- acre operation.
Talking about the trade show, Director of Marketing Tim Cummings said, "Our primary focus at Peri & Sons is promoting our sweet onion. We are here to talk to retail partners about [the trademarked] 'Sweetie Sweet.' "
Mr. Cummings said that the onion is a growing success, and redesigned packages featuring "Sweetie Sweet" will hit the marketplace soon. The upgraded packages also integrate new sweet onion recipes, which will provide consumers with interesting dishes to try at home.
"We're basically updating the entire Peri & Sons image," he said.
"We want to educate consumers about the differences between onions," Mr. Cummings told The Produce News.
He said that newly designed point-of-sale material is being made available at the retail level to educate shoppers and help retailers with product sales. Both conventional and organic onions are grown and marketed by Peri & Sons, and the company places strong emphasis on earth-friendly farming practices for its growing operations.
"We focus on environmentally safe production methods," Mr. Cummings stated. As a result, product has received Nutri-Clean certification, meaning that onions are certified 100 percent pesticide-free. Additionally, the company is GAP and GMP certified.
For the third year in a row, the company has earned a "Superior" food safety rating awarded by auditor Scientific Certification Systems. Mr. Cummings said that public awareness about food-safety issues continues to grow, and the company's policy of going green during the past 20 years means that Peri & Sons is ahead of the curve.
This year, Mr. Cummings said that the company is working to create a 12- month onion program. To keep farming and production standards high, Mr. Cummings said that Peri & Sons will source all its onions domestically, rather than rely on imports.
"This gives us control," Mr. Cummings said. "We want everything grown to be pure and clean."
Currently, all production acreage is located in Nevada, but Mr. Cummings said that Peri & Sons would expand its operations in other states in the near future.
Peri & Sons is also increasing the amount of organic acreage it intends to plant in the coming years. There are currently several hundred acres are under organic production.
In addition to its emphasis on premium product produced with environmentally responsible practices, Peri & Sons has just upgraded its partnership with CHEP to implement an electronic data interchange system to make its pallet-reporting program more efficient. The system is designed to help save labor and reduce cycle times.
Peri & Sons is now shipping its product on CHEP pallets to supermarkets and foodservice distributors throughout the United States. The pallets are designed to help reduce product damage during distribution.
"Peri & Sons is the latest major grower to see significant financial and customer service benefits from the CHEP program," said Tim Smith of CHEP USA.
