Wild Rocket Foods to launch processing facility in Southern California
Wild Rocket Foods to launch processing facility in Southern California
Building on its success in the United Kingdom, Wild Rocket Foods soon will launch its first fresh produce-processing facility in the United States in Riverside, CA.
The company celebrated its upcoming fall launch on Wednesday, Aug. 29, with an event that included city officials.
Wild Rocket will supply whole produce, fresh-cut produce, fresh dips and salsas, plus freshly squeezed juices and lemonades, and it will have a mix of both conventionally and organically grown products.
Wild Rocket's parent company, Nature's Way Foods, based in West Sussex, England, is the main fresh produce supplier to U.K.-based Tesco. Tesco's foray into the United States involves opening its first store in its Fresh & Easy grocery chain in the United States in Riverside, two miles from Wild Rocket's facility. Both the Wild Rocket facility and the Fresh & Easy store are slated to open this fall.
Plans are in the works to open Fresh & Easy stores in the Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas markets later this year. Wild Rocket's Riverside facility would serve those stores, and eventually, Wild Rocket also plans to service supermarket chains in the United States outside the Tesco umbrella, said James Truscott, vice president of sales and marketing for Wild Rocket Foods. Wild Rocket has a "$100 million investment" in its facility in Riverside and is concentrating on launching its business there. Servicing Fresh & Easy is its first priority, but establishing more Wild Rocket processing facilities in the United States also is a future possibility, he said.
The company has linked with "a small group of growers" in the United States that includes Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak Produce Co., Mr. Truscott said. About 70 percent of Wild Rocket's fresh produce for the U.S. market will be grown in California, another 15 percent or so will comes from other states and the rest will come from outside sources such as Mexico, he said.
Wild Rocket's speed to market will be one of its strong points in competing with well-established players in the United States, Mr. Truscott said. The firm had about 70 employees on Aug. 27, and by the time the store opens in the fall, Wild Rocket expects to have about 150 employees. Within 18-24 months, the firm anticipates reaching 350 employees.
Those positions include sales and marketing, human resources, finance, operations, and IT. Except for a handful of employees that came from the United Kingdom, these employees largely will come from the United States. Wild Rockets parent -- Nature's Way -- supplies all the lettuce for the McDonald's fast-food chain across the United Kingdom and Ireland and is the second-largest producer of bagged salads in the United Kingdom. That experience and knowledge will translate well in doing business in the States, Mr. Truscott said.
The company celebrated its upcoming fall launch on Wednesday, Aug. 29, with an event that included city officials.
Wild Rocket will supply whole produce, fresh-cut produce, fresh dips and salsas, plus freshly squeezed juices and lemonades, and it will have a mix of both conventionally and organically grown products.
Wild Rocket's parent company, Nature's Way Foods, based in West Sussex, England, is the main fresh produce supplier to U.K.-based Tesco. Tesco's foray into the United States involves opening its first store in its Fresh & Easy grocery chain in the United States in Riverside, two miles from Wild Rocket's facility. Both the Wild Rocket facility and the Fresh & Easy store are slated to open this fall.
Plans are in the works to open Fresh & Easy stores in the Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas markets later this year. Wild Rocket's Riverside facility would serve those stores, and eventually, Wild Rocket also plans to service supermarket chains in the United States outside the Tesco umbrella, said James Truscott, vice president of sales and marketing for Wild Rocket Foods. Wild Rocket has a "$100 million investment" in its facility in Riverside and is concentrating on launching its business there. Servicing Fresh & Easy is its first priority, but establishing more Wild Rocket processing facilities in the United States also is a future possibility, he said.
The company has linked with "a small group of growers" in the United States that includes Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak Produce Co., Mr. Truscott said. About 70 percent of Wild Rocket's fresh produce for the U.S. market will be grown in California, another 15 percent or so will comes from other states and the rest will come from outside sources such as Mexico, he said.
Wild Rocket's speed to market will be one of its strong points in competing with well-established players in the United States, Mr. Truscott said. The firm had about 70 employees on Aug. 27, and by the time the store opens in the fall, Wild Rocket expects to have about 150 employees. Within 18-24 months, the firm anticipates reaching 350 employees.
Those positions include sales and marketing, human resources, finance, operations, and IT. Except for a handful of employees that came from the United Kingdom, these employees largely will come from the United States. Wild Rockets parent -- Nature's Way -- supplies all the lettuce for the McDonald's fast-food chain across the United Kingdom and Ireland and is the second-largest producer of bagged salads in the United Kingdom. That experience and knowledge will translate well in doing business in the States, Mr. Truscott said.
