SALINAS, CA - The ever-increasing competition in our industry has many companies upping their game, and one of the ways in which they are achieving this is through strategic partnerships to pivot and impact their programs and presence in fresh produce. As we break into the second half of 2019, Church Brothers Farms and FiveStar Gourmet Foods have entered into a formal partnership allowing each company to expand their portfolios in their respective areas of expertise in the retail and foodservice arenas.
“This partnership allows us to expand into regional processing with FiveStar’s state-of-the-art facilities in California and Florida, and quickly scale up to create new, innovative value added-items for our customers,” Brian Church, CEO of Church Brothers Farms, said. “FiveStar will leverage our strong land base of more than 40,000 conventional and organic crop acres to expand into the bagged salad category.”
Church adds that integrating each company’s strengths and customer bases is mutually beneficial and will complement the other’s ability to create new opportunities for the growers and processors across the board.
Effective immediately, this move creates an opportunity in which both companies are now better positioned for increased growth. The partnership will not affect ownership or personnel, and each company will continue to operate independently, according to a press release.
"This legal partnership creates a vertically integrated program for FiveStar Gourmet Foods, and we are extremely excited to work with such a well-known, established company like Church Brothers Farms,” Tal Shoshan, CEO of FiveStar Gourmet Foods, Inc., said. “A grower-direct supply helps further our new product innovation especially within packaged salads like blends and kits, which FiveStar plans to impact in a big way, similar to how we impacted the salad bowl category."
The two companies will collaborate on resources, infrastructure, logistics, best-in-class food safety practices, and facilities, Shoshan noted, in order to be the most impactful and effective for their customers.
The new partnership is a logical move for both the companies as FiveStar Gourmet Foods has been sourcing fresh commodities from Church Brothers Farms for several years for the company’s Simply Fresh® brands.
Congrats, FiveStar Gourmet Foods and Church Brothers Farms, on this recent partnership and we are excited to see the opportunities that these companies will generate on the road ahead!
