Posts Tagged “L&M”
By L&M
Billy the Kid Produce, LLC in Deming, NM has entered an agreement with L&M to be their exclusive onion marketer. Both Billy the Kid and L&M are family-owned businesses with strong values and a shared focus on excellent quality and customer service.
“We are honored to be working together with Billy and the Franzoy family to service our customers and help them grow their businesses. Over the years, the Franzoys have made impressive investments in their operation. The scale and progressive nature of their culture made it a natural fit for L&M,” said John Oxford, President & CEO of L&M.
Billy the Kid operates a state-of-the-art facility within 20 miles of all of their onion fields. The packing facility boasts over 100,000 square feet with photo optic sizers and robotic palletizers that ensure maximum efficiency and consistency in sizing, sorting, and stacking.
Billy the Kid will grow approximately 700 acres of onions this season, beginning harvest in late May and continuing through mid-August.
“Our new partnership with Billy the Kid fits very well with L&M’s onion program. Our California crop wraps up at the end of May and we begin harvest on our Kansas crop in mid-August. This partnership will allow for a seamless transition and an uninterrupted supply of quality onions for our customers,” said Derek Ennis, L&M’s Potato & Onion Sales Manager.
“We’re excited to be working with L&M and look forward to a long future together,” said Billy Franzoy, Billy the Kid’s founder and a grower for the partnership.
“For the past 30 years I have represented my family to the onion industry. My decision to step out of onion sales was driven by the fact that I need to spend more time focused on the growth of the Hatch Chile Factory,” said Chris Franzoy, President & CEO, Young Guns. “The decision to hand over the onion marketing reins to L&M was an easy one to make. They have a great track record and are leaders in the industry. I’m very excited for both L&M and Billy the Kid, and I know for a fact there is no better company to represent my family,” he continued.
L&M is a grower and shipper of fresh fruits and vegetables with more than 54 years in the industry, specializing in potatoes & onions; Eastern & Mexican vegetables; and apples, pears & cherries. www.lmcompanies.com
Formed by Billy Franzoy, Billy the Kid Produce has been growing onions since the 1970’s. Today – along with his 4 sons – this 4th generation farming family has become a preeminent onion grower in New Mexico.
By L&M
L&M is full swing into the Florida farming season with four times more organic shipments planned in 2018. Unlike many Florida companies that are consolidating organics, L&M is growing organics on two of their own, company-owned farms in Florida.
The company is growing organic bell peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, and butternut and spaghetti squash in Branford, FL. Over in Palatka, FL, L&M has already begun harvesting organic broccoli, green and red cabbage, and kale; and will be adding red and golden beets and cauliflower into the mix this year as well.
Over the years, L&M has worked hard on its organic program, taking the same pride in their certified organic farming and packing as they do on their other farming programs, including sustainability and food safety.
“We have made great progress on our organic program and are as proud of our attention to detail and exceptional quality on organics as we are on our conventional products. So far this year we have produced some very nice organic broccoli, cabbage, and kale; and we look forward to beginning harvest of beets, peppers, cucumbers, and squash in the coming weeks” noted Adam Lytch, Operations Manager for L&M Farms.
Greg Cardamone, General Manager of Vegetables, added, “Organics is an exciting space to move into with continued growth and popularity. Year after year, consumption of organic fruits and vegetables is increasing and we are excited to be able to meet our customers’ needs with East Coast production.
“With the recent truck shortage our customers have found it valuable to be able to load their organic and conventional items together – without giving up the valuable shelf life that large cross-dock programs often bring.”
Along with increased organic farming, L&M has also developed new purple organic packaging. Most recently, L&M added new organic broccoli and cauliflower bags and tags, butt tags for organic cabbage, 3lb mesh sweet potato bags, and hard squash labels.
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South Florida vegetables – grossing about $3500 to Boston.
New refrigerated containers have been ordered by Hapag-Loyd for export expansions…In Nogales, L&M has expanded its warehouse shipping facility.
Hapag-Lloyd is investing in 3700 refrigerated containers, which are used to ship food and other cargo around the world Of the total, 1,000 of the units have environmentally friendly refrigeration systems.
Another 1000 will also have controlled-atmosphere capabilities specifically for fresh produce.
The Maersk Container Industry Star Cool Integrated containers are being built in Maersk facilities in China and Chile.
“Working together with (Maersk Container), we have been able to refine (controlled-atmosphere) technology to offer our ExtraFresh Plus service,” said Niklas Ohling, senior director at Hapag-Lloyd, in a news release. “his service enables even extremely sensitive fruit such as blueberries and lychees to be transported to the desired level of quality and degree of ripeness.”
The new containers allows the company to expand the market reach of fresh fruits and vegetables, said Saren Leth Johannsen, chief commercial officer At Maersk Container, in the release.
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L&M Begins Winter Season with New Facility
By L&M
L&M’s Nogales location has moved and is now operating in a new, expanded facility. The new location features over 33,000 square feet of cold storage, including 8 ripening rooms for mature green tomatoes and over 9,000 square feet of office space. This allows L&M to service up to 24 loads at one time. We are happy to offer consolidation services for our customers, as well as in-and-out service year-round.
L&M is already shipping melons, zucchini, yellow squash, hard squash, eggplant and bell peppers. Mature Green tomatoes will be available in December and cucumbers are available year-round. L&M will be adding production on eggplant and hard squash out of Culiacan, Mexico.
L&M Nogales is now located at 1450 W. La Quinta Rd. The company is a grower and shipper of fresh vegetables, potatoes and onions, with farms and offices nationwide