Strategic sweet onion marketing deal joins East with West
Strategic sweet onion marketing deal joins East with West
Bland Farms in Glennville, GA, and Sweet Clover Produce LLC in Quincy, WA, have entered into a marketing partnership that will allow the companies to offer a year-round supply of high-quality sweet onions.
In addition to Vidalia and Walla Walla sweet onions, sourcing will include onions from South America. All product will be certified for sweetness by an independent lab.
"Delbert Bland has friends in the industry that know me, and one day Delbert called me and asked if I wanted to" enter into an agreement to market sweet onions, said Bill Brownfield, sales manager of Sweet Clover Produce, which markets Walla Walla sweet onions.
That deal has been solidified, and we're rocking and rolling, Mr. Brownfield told The Produce News Sept. 14. Sweet Clover Produce previously shipped over 2 million bags of sweet onions annually, but now with the deal with Bland, Mr. Brownfield said that the firm anticipates its annual volume will exceed 3 million bags.
Other onion growers and marketers involved in Sweet Clover Produce include Grigg & Sons, which owns Sweet Clover Produce, and the Hamada and Locati families.
Sweet Clover is strictly the marketing arm of Grigg & Sons, Mr. Brownfield said. Its labels include Sweet Clover, Colombia Pride, White Tiger, Basin Best, Ms. Walla Walla, Bland Farms, and Blue Mountain. It packs 40-, 25- and 10-pound cartons, all the consumer packs, RPCs for certain customers every pack under the sun, Mr. Brownfield said, making particular mention of the four-pound consumer pack.
In addition to sweet onions, Sweet Clover Produce handles hybrid yellow, red and white onions, which will be a welcome addition to Bland Farms offerings along with the Walla Walla sweets.
Weve been wanting to expand our operation to allow for yellows, reds and whites in addition to another sweet onion to bridge the gap between Vidalia and Peru, Mr. Bland said in a press release. With Bills involvement in the Walla Walla deal, it just makes sense.
Bland Farms handles sweet Vidalia onions from June through September, and after that from Peru and Uruguay, where it works with some growers with which it has established relationships. Bland also handles sweet onions from Chile, where it is involved in a joint venture with a grower.
All those onions, combined with the product from Sweet Clover in Washington, will result in a consistent, year-round supply of premium sweet onions for the groups retail, wholesale and foodservice customers, in addition to the other onion varieties.
Mr. Brownfield said in the press release, We now have the ability to service both retail and foodservice customers with both East Coast and West Coast distribution of the worlds finest sweet onions all year long.
In addition to Vidalia and Walla Walla sweet onions, sourcing will include onions from South America. All product will be certified for sweetness by an independent lab.
"Delbert Bland has friends in the industry that know me, and one day Delbert called me and asked if I wanted to" enter into an agreement to market sweet onions, said Bill Brownfield, sales manager of Sweet Clover Produce, which markets Walla Walla sweet onions.
That deal has been solidified, and we're rocking and rolling, Mr. Brownfield told The Produce News Sept. 14. Sweet Clover Produce previously shipped over 2 million bags of sweet onions annually, but now with the deal with Bland, Mr. Brownfield said that the firm anticipates its annual volume will exceed 3 million bags.
Other onion growers and marketers involved in Sweet Clover Produce include Grigg & Sons, which owns Sweet Clover Produce, and the Hamada and Locati families.
Sweet Clover is strictly the marketing arm of Grigg & Sons, Mr. Brownfield said. Its labels include Sweet Clover, Colombia Pride, White Tiger, Basin Best, Ms. Walla Walla, Bland Farms, and Blue Mountain. It packs 40-, 25- and 10-pound cartons, all the consumer packs, RPCs for certain customers every pack under the sun, Mr. Brownfield said, making particular mention of the four-pound consumer pack.
In addition to sweet onions, Sweet Clover Produce handles hybrid yellow, red and white onions, which will be a welcome addition to Bland Farms offerings along with the Walla Walla sweets.
Weve been wanting to expand our operation to allow for yellows, reds and whites in addition to another sweet onion to bridge the gap between Vidalia and Peru, Mr. Bland said in a press release. With Bills involvement in the Walla Walla deal, it just makes sense.
Bland Farms handles sweet Vidalia onions from June through September, and after that from Peru and Uruguay, where it works with some growers with which it has established relationships. Bland also handles sweet onions from Chile, where it is involved in a joint venture with a grower.
All those onions, combined with the product from Sweet Clover in Washington, will result in a consistent, year-round supply of premium sweet onions for the groups retail, wholesale and foodservice customers, in addition to the other onion varieties.
Mr. Brownfield said in the press release, We now have the ability to service both retail and foodservice customers with both East Coast and West Coast distribution of the worlds finest sweet onions all year long.
