THE STORY OF BIG VALLEY LABEL

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT ONE OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA'S THIRD GENERATION COMPANIES. IT IS A STORY ABOUT TWO COMPANIES, INDEPENDENTLY OWNED, who came together with a handshake to form the label, Big Valley. Thirty years ago, a landowner and grower by the name of Jim Wood, shook hands with a gentleman named Rod Bentley to market the fruit and vegetables being farmed out of San Joaquin Valley. The union was a result of Jim Wood's search to find the right partner to sell his peaches.

Food marketing innovator Rod Bentley accepted the challenge, and formed Bentley and Bentley several years later. Together, the companies formed the giant supermarket label known today as Big Valley Marketing, and have successfully marketed frozen fruits, vegetables, and juice concentrates to retail, foodservice, and industrial customers throughout the nation and the world. Big Valley's primary assets is its people. The organization boasts a unique blend of seasoned food industry veterans and young aggressive marketers. Recognized for their industry expertise, the Big Valley sales and marketing staff works closely with J.R. Wood's R&D professionals to create new products that meet the evolving needs of the frozen food industry. This teamwork has lead to many innovations adopted as industry standards. In the late 1960's, in quest of a more natural tasting frozen fruit, Big Valley brand introduced the use of citric and ascorbic acids as antioxidants, replacing sulfur dioxide in IQF processing.

As they each retained their own independent companies, Bentley and Bentley began marketing and selling the fruit of J.R. Wood's orchards. The flagship of this organization is peaches, with JR Woods being the largest producer of of freestone and cling peaches in the United States. Many of these peaches are delivered to the makers of Mrs. Smith's and Sara Lee Pies, along with many yogurt and preserves companies. The output is not restricted to peaches, however. J.R. Woods also produces and handles the purchasing for items needed for the Big Valley label. While Bentley & Bentley handles the sales and marketing of the brand.

If you grocery shop, no doubt you have seen this label before. Big Valley is one of the largest producers of packaged IQF frozen fruit in the retail market, also exporting to foreign markets such as Japan, Canada, Mexico, South America, and a little bit in Europe. In fact, Big Valley as the Branded Retail Frozen Fruit label is the number one branded label in the United States.

Changing world markets in the agriculture business have forced the need for marketing ingenuity in order to stay competitive, and Bentley's with J.R. Wood's R&D have gone the route of the Value Added Business.

Bentley and Bentley pack to order for JR Woods, allowing them to sell 100% of what JRW packs. However they have the capacity to pack three times as much volume as they currently pack. We cannot just be a commodity business. Says Yvonne. Choosing the route of the Value Added Business, Brewer maneuvers easily in and out of the various segments of Foodervice, Retail, and Club. In order to produce more Value Added products to utilize all the components from the fruit and vegetables that JR Wood produces, Bentley and Bentley has gone to market with two smoothie products: Big Valley Fruitatious, a ready to pour smoothie product, and a new smoothie beverage mix that they are marketing under their new label, Flavorland.

Big Valley Fruitatious is for the Flavor of the Day segment ( end users that do not want their whole business to revolve around smoothies,( i.e., Deli's, coffee/java houses, Universities, Hospitals, etc.), and is 100% pure fruit and juice concentrates. You just thaw, blend with ice and serve. Another application for this segment is for the Value Added Menu Segment. The end users would add smoothies to their children's menus, breakfast menus, or a drink section. It is a ready to pour product. The Flavorland Beverage Mix is a fruit drink base that works well for the bar trade, and is sweeter.

The Flavorland Ful O'Flavor is their newest line, and is still partially under development. "This line would be used for high volume and fast pace and would have to be used with a machine so it could be poured immediately.(i.e., Fast Food Chains, High Volume Restaurants, Contract Feeders, etc.)" says Brewer. " The smoothie market has been a big market for us. Jamba Juice buys our frozen peaches, and the Value Added Menu segment has been buying our prepared smoothie products, " explains Yvonne. As a whole, the 4+1 strawberries are the biggest mover to foodservice, but the applications vary from drinks to desserts.

"If you are in the full service smoothie business, you are probably using frozen fruit product. It is impossible to have a consistent product day in and day out and use fresh fruit only. And IQF fruit is frozen so quickly, that you capture the freshness of that moment right then and there." Says Yvonne.

Every part of the processed fruit and vegetable has a "home". We can take our smaller cuts and sell them as Bits & Pieces, or Sort-outs. This works especially well in the smoothie and blender drink business. If you are looking at saving money this concept is more cost sensitive. After, you are just blending the fruit up in the blender anyway. Regardless of who the supplier is, it is important to know what form will best serve the end user. A supplier of IQF fruit to many operators, Bentley and Bentley notes that some larger users are considering getting out of the IQF fruit in order to go to shelf stable. Like the Ful O'Flavor line, "Shelf stable eliminates a lot of steps - and freezer space. A very important consideration to an end user."

California' strict compliance laws and high cost of labor have forced companies such as J.R. Wood into the Value Added Business. Marketing ingenuity has been their saviour. Unafraid to try new products out in the market place, Bentley and Bentley are in R&D with their individual serve shelf stable fruit cups. They are currently testing a new Ready-to-Drink Smoothie that they want to bring to market.

Brix Level
A fractometer is used to measure the Brix level, or the natural sweetness level, of fruit. Each piece of fruit is picked at the height of its bloom, or its best Brix level. If a product is not sweet enough naturally, the company may opt to add product to bring the Brix level up. It does not have to be sugar. It can be other fruit product that simply has a higher Brix level at the time it was picked.

Research shows that the public likes to taste product that has a Brix level of 18 - 24. Recently Big Valley tested a new apple juice product that it wanted to bring to market. The Brix level was 10. It was a natural product that had no sugar added, nor did it have any other sweetening agents that added to increase the Brix level. The team was split on whether it would sell, so it was sent back to the drawing board to make the product more appealing in the market place.

" We wanted a completely natural product" Yvonne explained, " but we also have to make sure it sells." But our latest project is also one of our biggest ventures. Big Valley has entered into an agreement with Chef Martin Yan, of Yan Can Cook fame, and are producing ready to cook frozen meal starters of vegetables over rice. Just add protein with rice or noodles.

Currently launching their first marketing effort in Costco, they anxiously await the first reaction from consumers. There are four different recipes available. San Francisco Chinatown Stir-Fry, Five Flavor Shanghai Stir Fry, Sweet & Sour Teriyaki Stir Fry, and Fiery Sichuan Stir Fry. This launch expands into markets that they are already involved in with their IQF fruits and vegetables, and utilizes their excess capacity with their growers.
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For samples of any of their products, contact their Northern California broker Hardy Burnette at Herspring, 925 552 0220, and their Southern California Broker Dennis-Biernat & Associates at 818 593 3838.