Homegrown Organic Farms expands berry category with HBF International merger
Homegrown Organic Farms is ironing out the details to bring HBF International into its growing berry category.
By acquiring HBFI, the Porterville, Calif.-based Homegrown Organic Farms combines decades of berry sales with its marketing expertise to build a comprehensive berry program. This acquisition also expands Homegrown Organics Farms into conventional blueberries and adds blackberries, currants, cranberries and kiwi berries to its offerings, according to a news release.
(Photo courtesy Homegrown Organic Farms)
“By moving into the conventional space, Homegrown will have a solution for transitional organic fruit and provide customers with more complete logistic solutions and expanded product offerings HBF International’s quality growers and customer base will be a wonderful addition to the Homegrown family,” Scott Mabs, CEO of Homegrown Organic Farms, said in the release.
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Homegrown Organic Farms’s founding families were among the first citrus growers in California to go organic when they transitioned their family farm in 1989. The company’s expansion will bring a path for transitional organic fruit in the future, better logistic solutions, and berry category innovations for Homegrown’s growers and customers, according to the release.
“With this change, we will create an all-inclusive berry program that is prepared to bring innovation and quality to our customers,” Doug Perkins, HBFI owner, said in the release.
HBFI has grown, packed and shipped conventional berries to the market for more than 40 years. Perkins and the HBFI team will contribute their experience to the larger Homegrown Organic Farms organization.
With the addition of HBFI, Homegrown is developing a comprehensive berry category that includes existing HBFI licensing agreements and the addition of kiwi berries. The kiwi berry is a miniature variety of kiwifruit that is about the size of a grape. It is fuzz-free and is rich in vital nutrients like vitamin C, fiber and potassium.
(Photo courtesy Homegrown Organic Farms)
“We are excited to expand our berry category and provide unique options for our growers, customers, and consumers. We are looking forward to growing the Homegrown family,” Stephen Paul, Homegrown Organic Farms's tree fruit and blueberry category director, said in the release.
Homegrown will launch its expanded program with California blueberries starting in April. Both companies look forward to combining their years of experience to bring a berry program full of exciting offerings to the market.
