by Brian Gaylord
09/09/2005
San Juan Bautista, CA-based Earthbound Farm has partnered with California State University at Monterey Bay and Maryland-based foodservice provider Sodexho to provide organic produce for the university's cafeteria year round.
Credited with joining the parties together is Kari Bernardi, project coordinator for the Monterey County Farm to School Partnership, which is the local chapter of a national movement that links schools and farms.
The Earthbound items will include organic salad greens, vegetables and fruit. The cafeteria also will offer grab-and-go organic salads, apple slices, carrot dippers and raisins. Other fruits available for the school program include oranges, kiwi, cantaloupes, honeydews and red and green grapes.
The venture marks the first time California State University has carried organic produce and it also marks Earthbound's foray into selling its organic produce at the college and university levels. Earthbound and Sodexho are working toward partnering together to service Sodexho's stable of 900 colleges and universities in its national distribution chain.
Jon Kiley, senior manager of foodservice sales for Earthbound, said that his company would collect data for a while to see how well the arrangement is working and to "learn what the proper product mix is." Earthbound is ready and able to quickly ramp up operations with Sodexho, he said.
Dan Kaupie, head of foodservice for Sodexho at CSUMB, told The Produce News Aug. 30 that since the university's cafeteria opened for the fall semester Aug. 19, sales of salads to go had doubled compared with the previous year to date. Mr. Kaupie also said that Earthbound represents by far the best vendor relationship I have," and that Earthbound calls daily and anticipates his needs.
One of the keys to the partnership between the university and Earthbound is that Earthbound has worked with the university on pricing. All items that Mr. Kaupie has ordered so far have cost no more than conventional produce would, he said. Because Earthbound's base is only about a half-hour away from CSUMB, the company delivers directly to the campus three times a week. Mr. Kiley said that in future dealings with other colleges and universities, Earthbound would make an effort to partner with end users and distributors to keep costs as close as possible to those of conventionally grown produce.
Sodexho uses distributors Sysco and Fresh Point for national accounts.
Earthbound Farm, a leading grower-shipper of organic produce, also is working to launch similar partnerships with Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Unified School District (Monterey Peninsula), the University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University, Stanford University and Boston College. Those accounts would not be through Sodexho.
Culinary Center of Monterey offers corporate programs In addition to its new state-accredited vocational school and hands-on classes for the general public and cooking aficionados, the Culinary Center of Monterey offers customized corporate programs tailored to each client's needs.
Seattle-based Amerifresh a leading fresh produce marketer recently staged its annual Culinary Expo there.
About 60 percent of Amerifresh's business is with the foodservice industry. Its recent expo was targeted at foodservice salespeople such as distributor sales reps, sales managers, district managers and vice presidents of sales.
Produce companies that presented the recipes and usage ideas included Desert Glory Ltd., Earthbound Farm, Grimmway Farms, the HMC Group Marketing Inc., Mann Packing Co. Inc. and Spice World Inc.
Tanimura & Antle hits child-care milestone Enrollment in Spreckels, CA-based Tanimura & Antle's child-care center has passed the 175-student mark.
Founded in 2003, the center is a joint venture with the Monterey County Office of Education and grew out of ideas from T&A's employees, who were asked to give their thoughts on how the company could serve them better. T&A provided the land and infrastructure, and Monterey County provided the building and staffing. The child-care center is located near T&A's headquarters.
The center provides Tanimura & Antle employees with the opportunity to place their children ages 3 to 5 in an environment which helps them build their self-esteem while teaching them basic skills such as the alphabet, English, speech-development, reading, colors and numbers.
The center can accommodate up to 48 children of migrant farmworkers employed by T&A. Priority is given to worker families coming to Salinas each season from the California-Arizona desert area, and Oxnard, CA. The center is open 180 days a year.
(Contact Western Editor Brian Gaylord at 831/757-4000 or briangaylord@sbcglobal.net.)
