Cauliflower, Gold Coast Packing on the Rise

Gold Coast Cauliflower

Cauliflower, Gold Coast Packing on the Rise

Original Article Here by Mike Hornick

Growing demand for cauliflower products has Santa Maria, Calif.-based Gold Coast Packing Inc. ready to respond.

“We’re increasing volume,” said Brent Scattini, vice president of sales and marketing.

“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth in the cauliflower category over the last year, so we’re looking at different things we might be able to do there.”

“We’ve introduced the riced cauliflower in a couple private labels, and we’ll be rolling out our own label soon,” he said in late March.

While it isn’t entirely clear why sales of the vegetable are up, there are obvious clues.

“There’s been a lot of consumer interest,” Scattini said.

“Even last year, people were saying cauliflower is going to be the next kale. They are finding different and more versatile ways to use the product, probably more than the consumer ever really knew. It’s got a widespread appeal and can be used in so many ways.”

Gold Coast Packing has been in a double-digit growth pattern for six years, Scattini said, and has invested in expanded line, cooling and growing capacity.

In 2013, Gold Coast joined Babé Farms to open a 75,000-square-foot plant in Santa Maria under the Fresh Venture Foods name. That won’t be the last word.

The long-term plan calls for increasing capacity by another 25,000 square feet. The project is in the permitting process.

There are also plans afoot to draw on alternative energy sources, including cogeneration and solar.

“Both companies have experienced a lot of growth,” Scattini said.

“We’ve far exceeded our anticipated numbers when we moved in here, which is a good problem to have.”

The growth at Gold Coast prompted the December hiring of Andy Physioc, a regional sales director based in Phoenix. It was a new position at the company. He handles business development and foodservice, retail and industrial accounts.

As spring began, the Santa Maria region looked forward to more stable supplies of vegetables.

“The winter season was very challenging with all of the high markets and supply shortages that were out there,” Scattini said.

“We’ve made a lot of progress since then and are prepared for a greater amount of growth in the next few years to come.”

Gold Coast Packing Partners with Garden Fresh for Retail Program

Souplantation Gold Coast

Gold Coast Packing Partners with Garden Fresh for Retail Program

Original Article Here by Jordan Okumura

Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. has signed a licensing arrangement with Gold Coast Packing to bring Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes favorites to club stores and retailers. The limited selection will hit shelves this month. Customers in select Western U.S. markets will be able to bring home popular items like the Lemon Broccoli Madness salad kit, in addition to the original Joan’s Broccoli Madness salad kit, accordimg to a press release.

“We wanted to offer another way for our loyal guests to enjoy the salads and other wholesome products they enjoy at Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, and a chance for those who haven’t visited our restaurants to taste what they’ve been missing,” said David Goronkin, CEO of Garden Fresh Corp. “Gold Coast is a first class partner with tremendous foodservice and retail produce experience. We’re proud to work with them to expand our retail business.”

The salad kits are initially available at Club stores in Southern and Northern California as well as in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Texas with additional salad kits and other produce items will be introduced over the next several months.

“We’re excited to kick off another chapter in what has been a great relationship with Garden Fresh,” said John Schaefer, Vice President and General Manager of Gold Coast, a Santa Maria, CA-based produce grower and packer. “There is tremendous long-term potential to provide Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes produce kits to various retailers.”

Congrats Garden Fresh and Gold Coast Packing on the new partnership!

Gold Coast Packing, Babe Farms Partner on Construction

Gold Coast New Facility

Gold Coast Packing, Babe Farms Partner on Construction

Original Article Here by Mike Hornick

Construction has begun in Santa Maria, Calif., on a processing plant and cold storage facility for Gold Coast Packing and Babe Farms.

The Santa Maria grower-shippers will share the 100,000-square foot site in fall 2012 when it’s expected to open, according to a news release.

About 150 employees will operate the plant six days weekly. Gold Coast Packing has a product line of broccoli florets, cauliflower, cilantro, spinach and specialty packs sold for foodservice. Babe Farms, one of Gold Coast’s growers, offers specialty salads and baby vegetables to foodservice. Babe Farms is also a processor and shipper.

Chief executive officers Ron Burk of Gold Coast Packing and Judy Lundberg of Babe Farms attended the Oct. 7 groundbreaking on a 6-acre parcel.

Plans are for 8,000 square feet of office space and 80,000 of cold storage and processing. The balance will be in laboratory and employee facilities. The loading dock is pegged for nine bays.

“We anticipate that we can both increase our production volume by 50% as well as improve turnaround time from the field to our customers’ warehouse,” Lundberg said in the release.

“This building will provide economies of operation that will not only benefit us, but our customers as well,” Burk said in the release.