Telling the narrative of produce is one key to any brand. Retailers and consumers need to hear it. It’s about education, says Chris Drew.
“We’re telling the story of the artichoke,” said the CEO at Castroville, Calif.-based Ocean Mist Farms. “We’ve hosted clerks and managers from retail partners for tours of our fields and facility. We hope to de-intimidate people with the artichoke.”
The company is known for its artichokes, but it carries a broad variety of leafy greens and vegetables. The list includes 35 conventional commodities and 17 organic.
“Leafy greens are our top seller, especially romaine,” Drew said. “And we have a blend of items that cut prep time for consumers. Our goal is to load trucks with our full line of products and be a solutions provider for our customers.”
In pursuit of that, the company has built more value-added line capacity. The added line was the result of the company’s continuous improvement teams. Those teams are crucial to the company’s future.
“Looking ahead, I want Ocean Mist Farms to be servicing customers to a higher level than today,” Drew said. “We have to keep raising the bar. The best way to do that is to recognize and trust ideas from our employees. That way, everybody feels the win. Continuous improvement is a team effort.”
As he leads Ocean Mist Farms, Drew said his mind is regularly occupied by several challenges, with the cost of doing business being the common thread among them.
“We are facing many challenges. Some are greater than others,” Drew said.” First, doing business in California is becoming more difficult. Water is another big issue we’re dealing with. Near the top of the list would also be labor. Availability is one challenge, and cost is another. Finally, inflation and increased input costs are making it more expensive to do business.”
To meet these challenges in the long term, the company will sell its brand every day. Consumers desire relationships with brands. So, Drew said Ocean Mist Farms needs to connect with the consumer.
Far from the consumer, the challenge of labor is going to be solved, at least in part, by ag-tech.
“Mechanization helps alleviate some of the labor shortage, but it is a long-term investment,” Drew said. “We need to change to keep up and stay ahead. We are making those investments in the facility and the field.”
Finally, the key to moving forward will be to become more efficient.
“Boosting our efficiency in everything we do will help us face some of these challenges. We continually evaluate our inputs. We work on learning to farm with less and saving resources.”
