Fresh from presenting an attention-grabbing booth at Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit, Lakeside Organic Gardens is preparing for the transition between the fall and winter growing seasons.
The Watsonville, Calif.-based company’s PMA booth featured the “office” of Lakeside owner Dick Peixoto — his muddy Ford Raptor with an organic farm in the back. Creative marketing manager Marliese McWherter said the show was the best since the company became a PMA member in 2006. The Southern California venue allowed the company’s entire sales and marketing team to attend.
“We live, breathe and preach organic,” McWherter said. “At PMA our mission was to portray that we are the guys and gals who aren’t afraid to get dirty and you’ll feel that direct connection to our fields helping retailers’ bottom line.”
Growing more than 50 commodities, the company has about 2,000 acres in Watsonville and 1,000 acres in Holtville, Calif. Lakeside Organic expects to transition to desert growing areas about Dec. 10, McWherter said.
The company added 100 acres of organic certified land in 2019 and also has a new 50,000-square foot cooler with eight loading docks that use pre-staging of orders to get trucks in and out of the facility quickly.
Lakeside also recently released a video — available on its website, lakesideorganic.com — that highlights the company’s commitment to organic and growing in California.
The Packer’s Global Organic Produce Exposition & Conference (GOPEX) provides a forum to meet the rapidly changing needs of professionals who grow, distribute, pack and market organic produce. This international trade show and conference provides the ideal opportunity for organic produce professionals from around the world to network, exchange ideas, source new products and services, and do business with the industry’s leading growers, distributors, packers, marketers and retailers.
