B & P has produced jumbo packs of carrots for food service

Tag : carrot
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Started in 1964, B & P began with a small, fresh-carrot operationbut over time the company focused on the canned market. Bigiogni,who along with his sister, Janet Rianda, now owns the company, saidwith two San Joaquin Valley firms controlling about 80 percent ofthe fresh carrot market today, B & P had to become a niche player.
"It's always difficult for small companies like ours, butfortunately we found our niche supplying food services and canningcompanies," he said. "That's probably why we are still here."
Starting small with three or four growers who are still with them,B & P added acreage and eventually a packing shed by the late1960s. The company grew to the point where it opened a second
facility just for processing baby carrots and employed roughly 150people during the peak season.
Five years ago the baby-carrot shed was closed and the processingoperation was consolidated at the present Soledad location. Theacreage the firm had under cultivation began also to go down assome of B & P's clients began relocating their operations out ofCalifornia.
"We still supply carrots for companies like Campbell's Soup,Gerber's, and Heinz, but only on a seasonal basis," Bigiogni said.As the growers closer to these customers' Midwestern and Easternplants start harvesting in August, B & P is cut out of the loop.
"Our business slows down dramatically the middle of August,"Bigiogni said, explaining why the eight to 10 trailer loads ofcarrots leaving his loading dock suddenly drops to three or four. Value-added salads in mix
To adapt to this situation, which has resulted not only in fewercarrots grown but also a diminished local work force that numbersabout 80 people during the peak summer period, Bigiogni has turnedto supplying the value-added mixed salads and vegetable snackmarkets.
Where once B & P primarily only cut the tops off, washed and sizedthe carrots before bulk shipping them to customers, the company nowpeels the carrots and cuts them into either 4- or 2-inch sectionsfor use by Central Coast processors.
"Being a high volume producer in the 1990s, we resisted gettinginto the value-added sector," Bigiogni said. "Naturally, as thatvolume decreased we had to make some changes if we wanted to remainin business."
This new market, along with recent food safety concerns, hasnecessitated remodeling the packing facility and adding newequipment plus creating a clean room for processing peeledproducts.
Bigiogni's father, who passed away five years ago, probablywouldn't recognize the facility as it stands today, his son said. V-8 juice contract landed
Looking ahead to next spring, Bigiogni sees an improvement in theproblem of diminished volume. Campbell's will be producing V-8juice in California, and B & P will be providing all the carrotsfor that operation.
"We're really excited about this development," he said.
Although it's probably no more than 5 percent to 10 percent of thefirm's total business, B & P has produced jumbo packs of carrotsfor food service since 1985. To expand on the fresh-carrotbusiness, this year the firm began producing a 1-pound store packunder the Carrot King label, which is sold by various retailgrocery stores.
As with most companies, the escalating cost of fuel has been aconcern for B & P's president. Not only does the company handle itsown harvesting but in the "off-season" the firm trucks carrotsgrown in Southern California to Soledad for processing. Over thepast two years Bigiogni has seen his fuel bill double.
Because of long-term contracts, passing the rising costs on to thecustomer has not been possible.
"What looked like a good deal last November didn't look as good inJune," Bigiogni said. "These have been very tough times!" Buy local, Bigiogni urges
Looking to the future, Bigiogni would like to see more local saladand snack processors take advantage of the carrots produced rightin their own back yard in the Salinas Valley.
"Soledad is a lot closer to Salinas than Bakersfield," he said."When you consider transportation costs and the quality of theproduct, I think that would make a lot of sense."
Is there a difference in carrots grown on the Central Coast versusthe San Joaquin Valley? Because of the difference in soil andclimate conditions, Bigiogni contends the carrots grown in hisrealm definitely taste better.