“We have made a choice not to be in the grower side of the business, representing growers, because we have been more focused on our customers,” said Cary Crum, vice president of Green Tree International Inc. in Visalia, CA, with reference to the company’s involvement in the San Joaquin Valley grape deal.

“We have a wide range of customers,” he said. “We have customers that want premium grapes, we have customers that want average grapes and we have customers that want value-type gapes. When we go to a shipper with our business, we have a whole mix of business. We can take premium grapes, we can take average grapes, we can take value grapes, we can take grapes for export. We have customers in all those categories.”

Cary CrumThe number one reason that customers “come to us,” he said, is because “we are very well connected. We do business with virtually every shipper in the valley for table grapes. We have been doing this a long time. We understand the nuances of the marketplace” and know “who has what when, and for what kind of a price, that best meshes up for our customers.”

Because of “our varied business and our varied buyer base,” he said, “we can make the pieces fit better for everybody involved.”

The challenge, Mr. Crum said, is “to do good, honest, clean business with both our customers and our suppliers, and bring those two groups together to make business that is profitable for everybody. That is pretty much what we do, and our business model lends itself to that.”

Another component “that makes us of value” to customers, he continued, “is we have a very well-versed quality control staff that is in the field. We look at vineyards not only at harvest but sometimes before harvest,” as well as while it is being packed, while it is in the cooler, and again when it is loaded on the truck.

Grape standards are subjective, he said. As a result, one shipper’s premium-quality grape may not be as good as another shipper’s number two grape that sells for a lower price.

Additionally, a particular producer’s quality may vary over the course of the season. “A grower that might have excellent quality in early July,” for example, may not be able to match the quality of grapes from a different grower or a different location later in the season. “Knowing when it is time to make a transition to a different supplier, just because of the quality requirement of the customer” is invaluable, he said.

“If we do our job properly, we really become an extension of the sales force of the shipper,” Mr. Crum continued. “It is this knowledge and this experience that makes us successful.”

Green Tree’s sister company, The Fruit Exchange, which is licensed to pack the “Green Giant” brand in both table grapes and citrus in North America, continues to expand its “Green Giant” label table grape program, Mr. Crum said. “Last year, we had one supplier. This year, we have added two more,” providing additional supplies for the program.

The “Green Giant” program is focused on the retail segment of the business, he said, “and we at Green Tree aid in the marketing of some of that, under The Fruit Exchange.”