Bland Farms poised for dramatic growth
Bland Farms poised for dramatic growth
Glennville, GA-based Bland Farms has increased its presence in key onion- growing areas and is now poised for future growth.
"Bland Farms has a strategy in place that will enable us to grow and expand in many directions in the coming future," said Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of the firm. "We recently broke ground on a new facility in Donna, Texas, near McAllen. It is 100,000 square feet and will have cooler space for 3,200 pallets. It will be used for storing and moving onions and custom-packing other commodities."
The Donna operation will offer in-and-out complete services from Mexico, including sorting, packing and repalletizing. Mr. Hively said that construction began earlier this month, and it is expected to be operational by Aug. 1. John Backer will be the general manager of Bland Farms' Texas division.
"John has been in the area for three years," said Mr. Hively. "He came from another onion grower, packer and shipper in the region. He is highly experienced, and we know he will prove to be an asset to the company.
"We also hired Sonia Valdez to be our Texas finance and warehouse manager," Mr. Hively continued. "I worked with her at Del Monte some years ago. She took an approximate 10-year leave to dedicate her time to her family, and is now re-entering her career. We are very excited about her joining us because she knows the business and we know her. We will also be transferring some people, including a maintenance manager and office personnel, to the facility as it readies to open."
Mr. Hively said that the facility is in a prime location, close to both of the two bridges that cross into Mexico.
Besides controlled-atmosphere cooler space, Bland's Texas operation will be outfitted with a freezer unit. It expects to handle primarily produce, but services will extend to all commodities. It will also be equipped with a USDA inspector's office and be certified by SCS, Primuslabs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The facility will carry the Bland Farms Texas LLC name, and the in-and-out services division will be named Donna International Cold Storage.
"In past years, we have been running our Mexico and Texas onion programs through an outside packing facility," said Mr. Hively. "These programs have developed to the stage where we need to do it ourselves. Bland has its own methodology for handling onions and other products. The new facility will give us total control over our products and enable us to offer a full range of services to other companies."
Mr. Hively added that the need for cross-docking in McAllen is very high, and Bland can help fill the demand. He said that the new facility basically made good business sense.
Bland Farms is also opening another operation in Tremonton, UT, which is an established organic onion farm. The handling facility is 60,000 square feet in size.
"We are partnering with the gentleman who currently owns this facility," said Mr. Hively. "We purchased the land and the building, and he will continue to operate and manage it. Bland will oversee the growing and packing, and 100 percent of the marketing. This division is named Bland Farms Utah LLC."
Bland Farms purchased the Utah operation Jan. 3. The land is currently frozen, so executive staff at Bland is using the down time to create a budget, order seed and get other details in line for the next growing season.
"We have sourced organic onions from Utah in the past, but we now feel a need for a 52-week-a-year program," said Mr. Hively. "Again, this operation will give us control over our product from that area. There are currently supply-and-demand issues in organic sweet onions, and this purchase will enable us to fill in the gaps so we can offer reliable organic programs in the West, and provide us with the ability to control quality and variety."
Bland Farms also has organic onion programs in Georgia, Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Peru.
Bland's third new acquisition is Oconee River Produce in Mount Vernon, in close proximity to Vidalia, GA.
"It is about 65,000 square feet and has controlled-atmosphere storage," said Mr. Hively. "It will handle about 165,000 bushels, which will push Bland Farms to the 1 million-bushel mark. We purchased this operation because it will give us needed additional storage. Bland will be training staff to work there during the Vidalia storage season, which runs from April 15 through August 15."
Changes are also abundant at Bland Farm's main facility in Glennville. Mr. Hively said that the company is adding another new gradingline to enhance its packing abilities.
"All onions here will be packed on high-speed computerized graders for sizing accuracy," he said. "We are also expanding our drying capabilities. A new dryer will give us the capability of moving between 90,000 and 130,000 bushels at one time.
"There is a lot going on at Bland," he continued. "We are focusing on expansion and upgrades to provide better consistency and quality, and to enhance our packing abilities."
"Bland Farms has a strategy in place that will enable us to grow and expand in many directions in the coming future," said Michael Hively, chief financial officer and general manager of the firm. "We recently broke ground on a new facility in Donna, Texas, near McAllen. It is 100,000 square feet and will have cooler space for 3,200 pallets. It will be used for storing and moving onions and custom-packing other commodities."
The Donna operation will offer in-and-out complete services from Mexico, including sorting, packing and repalletizing. Mr. Hively said that construction began earlier this month, and it is expected to be operational by Aug. 1. John Backer will be the general manager of Bland Farms' Texas division.
"John has been in the area for three years," said Mr. Hively. "He came from another onion grower, packer and shipper in the region. He is highly experienced, and we know he will prove to be an asset to the company.
"We also hired Sonia Valdez to be our Texas finance and warehouse manager," Mr. Hively continued. "I worked with her at Del Monte some years ago. She took an approximate 10-year leave to dedicate her time to her family, and is now re-entering her career. We are very excited about her joining us because she knows the business and we know her. We will also be transferring some people, including a maintenance manager and office personnel, to the facility as it readies to open."
Mr. Hively said that the facility is in a prime location, close to both of the two bridges that cross into Mexico.
Besides controlled-atmosphere cooler space, Bland's Texas operation will be outfitted with a freezer unit. It expects to handle primarily produce, but services will extend to all commodities. It will also be equipped with a USDA inspector's office and be certified by SCS, Primuslabs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The facility will carry the Bland Farms Texas LLC name, and the in-and-out services division will be named Donna International Cold Storage.
"In past years, we have been running our Mexico and Texas onion programs through an outside packing facility," said Mr. Hively. "These programs have developed to the stage where we need to do it ourselves. Bland has its own methodology for handling onions and other products. The new facility will give us total control over our products and enable us to offer a full range of services to other companies."
Mr. Hively added that the need for cross-docking in McAllen is very high, and Bland can help fill the demand. He said that the new facility basically made good business sense.
Bland Farms is also opening another operation in Tremonton, UT, which is an established organic onion farm. The handling facility is 60,000 square feet in size.
"We are partnering with the gentleman who currently owns this facility," said Mr. Hively. "We purchased the land and the building, and he will continue to operate and manage it. Bland will oversee the growing and packing, and 100 percent of the marketing. This division is named Bland Farms Utah LLC."
Bland Farms purchased the Utah operation Jan. 3. The land is currently frozen, so executive staff at Bland is using the down time to create a budget, order seed and get other details in line for the next growing season.
"We have sourced organic onions from Utah in the past, but we now feel a need for a 52-week-a-year program," said Mr. Hively. "Again, this operation will give us control over our product from that area. There are currently supply-and-demand issues in organic sweet onions, and this purchase will enable us to fill in the gaps so we can offer reliable organic programs in the West, and provide us with the ability to control quality and variety."
Bland Farms also has organic onion programs in Georgia, Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Peru.
Bland's third new acquisition is Oconee River Produce in Mount Vernon, in close proximity to Vidalia, GA.
"It is about 65,000 square feet and has controlled-atmosphere storage," said Mr. Hively. "It will handle about 165,000 bushels, which will push Bland Farms to the 1 million-bushel mark. We purchased this operation because it will give us needed additional storage. Bland will be training staff to work there during the Vidalia storage season, which runs from April 15 through August 15."
Changes are also abundant at Bland Farm's main facility in Glennville. Mr. Hively said that the company is adding another new gradingline to enhance its packing abilities.
"All onions here will be packed on high-speed computerized graders for sizing accuracy," he said. "We are also expanding our drying capabilities. A new dryer will give us the capability of moving between 90,000 and 130,000 bushels at one time.
"There is a lot going on at Bland," he continued. "We are focusing on expansion and upgrades to provide better consistency and quality, and to enhance our packing abilities."
