Organic home grocer moves onto San Francisco produce market
Organic home grocer moves onto San Francisco produce market
Vancouver, BC-based spud! has moved onto the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The company -- which claims to be North America's largest on-line organic home grocer -- acquired Organic Express and moved into the space Organic Express occupied on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market.
Organic Express had been making deliveries of fresh organic produce to homes and offices since 1995. As a home deliverer of 100 percent certified- organic produce and groceries, the company easily was the largest in its niche in the San Francisco Bay area.
"We are taking the best of what they did," said spud! Chief Executive Officer David Van Seters. "We're retaining their staff - they had a stellar staff in place."
Mr. Van Seters said that he expects to hire additional drivers and warehouse staff soon, and that Organic Express had built a strong reputation and had standards in place for organics.
Mr. Van Seters said that the space previously occupied by Organic Express -- commonly referred to as "The Box" -- was about 50 percent smaller than spud!'s needs. But spud! redesigned the space so that it is getting more benefit, he said. Walk-in freezers have been installed and there are expanded coolers.
"To have access to organic distributors [on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market] is a huge benefit," Mr. Van Seters said.
Under spud!, consumers will have "a much wider selection of products," said Paul Johnson, founder of Organic Express, who has retired following the acquisition.
Spud! offers some 850 products, which include fresh produce items, dairy, eggs, breads, organic meats, bulk foods, prepared meals, tea, coffee, juices and sodas.
Spud! also acquired Westside Organics, a smaller organic home delivery service with a warehouse in nearby Hayward, CA. Westside had some territory that did not overlap that of Organic Express.
The acquisitions plus spud!'s own capabilities put it in a position to cover a broad area in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond from its location on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The company is serving four major West Coast markets in the United States: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland. This is in addition to spud's Canadian locations in Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia and Calgary, AB, respectively.
The merger will benefit local farmers and grocery vendors in each location, Mr. Van Seters said.
"Spud! strives to buy as locally as possible," Mr. Van Seters said. Local farmers and producers stand to improve their livelihood and growth potential through spud!, which also will benefit new farmers and producers coming into the organics market.
A goal of spud! is to protect the environment by buying local, organic, minimally packaged and eco-friendly products while reducing traffic and pollution by delivering groceries on a set route. The company may be the first to measure and publish the "food miles" distance each item travels from farm to fork. It takes pride in keeping its food miles to a minimum and in drastically reducing the carbon footprint that would exist if its customers made individual shopping trips.
The company, which launched in 1998, donates surplus food to outreach groups and local charities.
U.S. customers place their orders on-line at www.spud.com and Canadian customers place their orders online at www.spud.ca.
Michael Janis, general manager of the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, said that he welcomes spud's presence on the market.
"One thing we appreciate is the balance of types of businesses," Mr. Janis said. "We have distributors, wholesalers and home delivery."
Organic Express had been making deliveries of fresh organic produce to homes and offices since 1995. As a home deliverer of 100 percent certified- organic produce and groceries, the company easily was the largest in its niche in the San Francisco Bay area.
"We are taking the best of what they did," said spud! Chief Executive Officer David Van Seters. "We're retaining their staff - they had a stellar staff in place."
Mr. Van Seters said that he expects to hire additional drivers and warehouse staff soon, and that Organic Express had built a strong reputation and had standards in place for organics.
Mr. Van Seters said that the space previously occupied by Organic Express -- commonly referred to as "The Box" -- was about 50 percent smaller than spud!'s needs. But spud! redesigned the space so that it is getting more benefit, he said. Walk-in freezers have been installed and there are expanded coolers.
"To have access to organic distributors [on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market] is a huge benefit," Mr. Van Seters said.
Under spud!, consumers will have "a much wider selection of products," said Paul Johnson, founder of Organic Express, who has retired following the acquisition.
Spud! offers some 850 products, which include fresh produce items, dairy, eggs, breads, organic meats, bulk foods, prepared meals, tea, coffee, juices and sodas.
Spud! also acquired Westside Organics, a smaller organic home delivery service with a warehouse in nearby Hayward, CA. Westside had some territory that did not overlap that of Organic Express.
The acquisitions plus spud!'s own capabilities put it in a position to cover a broad area in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond from its location on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The company is serving four major West Coast markets in the United States: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland. This is in addition to spud's Canadian locations in Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia and Calgary, AB, respectively.
The merger will benefit local farmers and grocery vendors in each location, Mr. Van Seters said.
"Spud! strives to buy as locally as possible," Mr. Van Seters said. Local farmers and producers stand to improve their livelihood and growth potential through spud!, which also will benefit new farmers and producers coming into the organics market.
A goal of spud! is to protect the environment by buying local, organic, minimally packaged and eco-friendly products while reducing traffic and pollution by delivering groceries on a set route. The company may be the first to measure and publish the "food miles" distance each item travels from farm to fork. It takes pride in keeping its food miles to a minimum and in drastically reducing the carbon footprint that would exist if its customers made individual shopping trips.
The company, which launched in 1998, donates surplus food to outreach groups and local charities.
U.S. customers place their orders on-line at www.spud.com and Canadian customers place their orders online at www.spud.ca.
Michael Janis, general manager of the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, said that he welcomes spud's presence on the market.
"One thing we appreciate is the balance of types of businesses," Mr. Janis said. "We have distributors, wholesalers and home delivery."
