Original Article Here by Christina DiMartino

Companies are on the leading edge of development are the ones that continual­ly grow, expand and evolve. That’s exactly what is happen­ing at Gold Coast Packing in Santa Maria, CA.

Katie Boncich, who was promoted from sales to mar­keting manager in Septem­ber 2015, said the company has been exhibiting at the PMA Foodservice Conference and Expo since its inception.
“Of course we’ll be there again this year, at Booth No. 311,” said Boncich. “Our full staff will
be in attendance to greet and meet with existing and prospective customers.”

Gold Coast Packing will feature all of its customizable foodservice pack of fresh produce at the show, including broccoli cauliflower, cilantro, spinach, kale, Superfood blends, Brussels sprouts, green onions, parsley and collard greens.

“We will also showcase our new Caulifornia Snow,” said Boncich. “It is packed six, one-pound bags of riced cauli­flower with a 16-day shelf life.

The foodservice sector is a major part of Gold Coast Pack­ing’s business, representing between 65 and 70 percent of its sales. The company ships nationwide and into Canada.

“Our products are supplied to all sectors of the industry,” explained Boncich. “We do a lot of customized products for quick serve restaurants and family style chains. Our spe­cialty is in customized products are supplied to all sectors of the industry,” explained Boncich. “We do a lot of customized products for quick serve restaurants and family style chains. Our spe­cialty is in customized products for the ever-changing needs of the industry’s speci­fications. The foodservice side of our business is continually growing.”

An ever-evolving company like Gold Coast Packing means staff additions and changes. In addition to Boncich’s promotion, last Sep­tember Karl Lipscomb transitioned from sales to product develop ment team manager, and Donna Wilkins was hired as production coordinator.

In December we hired Andy Physioc as regional sales manager,” said Boncich. “In January we hired Ben Harmon out of Cal Poly San Luis Obis­po. He is now our account manager”.

The company is also grow­ing in physical size. It is cur­rently in the development stages to add 25,000 square feet to its existing facility, Fresh Venture Foods, and an additional 30,000 square feet of cold storage to its second building, Fresh Venture Foods 2.

“We provide customers with a tailored product that fits their supply chain needs and usage rates at the store or restaurant level,” said Bon­cich. “Thus we provide them with the power to control their systems and inventory more effectively, all the while sourcing the freshest product available.”

Original Article Here

Fresh Venture Foods, the wholly owned processing and cooling facility to Gold Coast Packing and Babe Farms, has recently activated an on-site cogeneration plant to produce a significant portion of its electrical needs. The plant became operational in June 2016.

In October 2011, the owners of Gold Coast and Babe Farms decided to form a joint venture and built a 75,000-square-foot facility on land they owned in Santa Maria, CA. The facility can be expanded to 105,000 square feet to support future growth. Construction of the new facility was completed in the fall of 2012. The new facility provided 50 percent additional capacity and houses all corporate office functions as well as production, which includes receiving, cooling, cleaning, sorting, packaging and shipping.

In 2015, after an extensive feasibility study FVF decided to install a natural gas fueled cogeneration plant to reduce its carbon footprint, control costs and upgrade its energy infrastructure. The upgrade will help keep rising energy costs under control by replacing grid electricity with on-site power generation. Emissions will be reduced by using the engine waste heat for onsite cooling.

FVF will be using the Jenbacher J312 engine, which has an electrical output of 633 kilowatts. In addition to the containerized generator, the system has a skid mounted chiller and two water towers. A heat recovery system will be used to convert the waste heat into therms, which will be used to chill water for various plant processing needs. To aid the plant in meeting new regulatory requirements, the engine is equipped with an advanced carb 1110.2 compliant emissions control system that attains treated emissions of 4 ppm at 15 percent O2.