LOS ANGELES, CA - What makes a business attractive to buyers and retailers? How does social responsibility fit into a business model? I spoke with Mark Munger, VP of Sales and Marketing for 4Earth Farms, to find out just how that business has cracked the code.
“4Earth Farms has built our business and reputation on quality, variety, safety, reliability, and social responsibility,” Mark said. “For 18 years, 4Earth Farms has been growing and supplying some of the finest organic produce, conventional and specialty produce in North America. With over 120 organic SKUs and 330 conventional and specialty SKUs, we have earned a reputation as one of the country’s leading produce suppliers, both in bulk, private label, and under the 4Earth Farms and 4Earth Organic labels.”
4Earth Farms is structured in a way that uniquely positions the company to customize its business to meet the specific needs of their customers. As a vertically integrated distributor, packer, and shipper with partners throughout the western United States, Texas, and Mexico, 4Earth is able to maintain consistent quality and a year-round supply.
“4Earth Farms occupies over eight acres in Los Angeles, CA. We have 28 loading doors working 365/52/7/24, 28 loading bays, a 100% climate-control warehouse with multiple temperature zones, and two acres of off-street parking for trucks in queue. Within our headquarters 30,000-square-feet is dedicated to our value-added services, offering a variety of bagging, sealing, labeling, sorting, and private label packing services,” Mark explained.
The company maintains all of this space with respect to the food safety and social responsibility standards that the company employs not as an obligation but as a moral imperative.
“Our HAACP-based food safety program tracks our products throughout their entire life cycle, including conducting regular first party audits of our suppliers, all the way down to the field level,” said Mark. “As verification of our food safety efforts, we have obtained SQF Level Three and BRC AA audit scores, we are also audited for UL-Responsible Sourcing.”
With 25 years in the business of giving back to its community, the planet, and its employees; family run 4Earth truly embodies their tagline People, Produce, Planet. To read more about produce industry business know-how, stay with us at AndNowUKnow.