Posts Tagged “Lipman Family Farms”
Unicoi, TN – Lipman Family Farms is excited to announce the addition of Jones & Church Farms of Unicoi, Tennessee to the Lipman farming network. This acquisition underscores Lipman’s unwavering commitment to family farming, sustainable practices, and the expansion of fresh produce availability throughout the United States.
Jones & Church Farms aligns with Lipman’s dedication to supporting family-run businesses and increasing production capacity. Established in 1975, Jones & Church Farms is now entering its third generation, continuing its legacy of growing romas and round tomatoes during the July-October growing season. By investing in this critical tomato season and location , Lipman is doubling down on its commitment to supplying stable, year-round produce to its customers.
Family farming is central to Lipman Family Farms’ mission. Integrating Jones & Church Farms allows Lipman to honor the rich history and expertise of their local growing partnership. With family central to its culture, Lipman continues to acquire and support family-owned operations.
Jones & Church has been a close partner of Lipman since 1996 when they started buying and marketing their tomatoes after the opening of Custom Pak, Lipman’s repack operations. This partnership became instrumental in Lipman’s seasonal supply in the East, making them the first local growing partner with key customers during the summer months.
“The Jones & Church team has always provided top-quality product and been honorable and sincere partners, offering the best tomatoes in the country between the months of July-October,” said Elyse Lipman, CEO at Lipman Family Farms. “Now, our companies and families are joining forces. Together as Lipman, we are positioned stronger than ever to provide year-round supply to our customers with an expert team.”
ABOUT LIPMAN FAMILY FARMS
By creating authentic connections between our employees, customers, and communities for 75 years, Lipman Family Farms has become one of the nation’s largest integrated networks of growers, fresh-cut processors, and distributors of fresh produce. We pride ourselves in being an international company that remains family-owned, ensuring our ability to act as good stewards of our land and our people, creating growth that nourishes everyone. We are large enough to be local everywhere and are dedicated to being good from the ground up, providing solutions in research & development, field growing, greenhouse growing, procuring, packing, repacking, fresh-cut processing, distributing, food safety, and culinary development. Learn more at LipmanFamilyFarms.com.
IMMOKALEE, FL – Lipman Family Farms is proud to announce significant investments in vegetable production that will revolutionize their operations and bolster the quality and output of their products.
In a dynamic industry landscape where consumer preferences continually evolve, Lipman Family Farms remains steadfast in its commitment to meeting the ever-changing demands and increasing consumption of fresh vegetables.
“We recognize when it’s time to invest into more resources so that our team can meet the needs of our customers and consumers alike,” Elyse Lipman, CEO of Lipman Family Farms stated. “With these investments, we will be able to meet consumer demands, enhance our operations, and enforce our position as a reliable partner in the industry.”
The key investments made by Lipman Family Farms include:
Increased Vegetable Acreage in Florida: Lipman has significantly expanded its vegetable and watermelon acreage in Florida, ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality vegetables year-round. This expansion enhances their ability to meet consumer demands for fresh produce, no matter the season.
Acquisition of Chapman Fruit Co.: Lipman Family Farms has purchased Chapman Fruit Co., a reputable vegetable packer in Southwest Florida. This strategic move creates additional capacity to accommodate the growing volume of vegetables produced by Lipman in the region, ultimately increasing cooling and packing capabilities to ensure the freshest produce reaches consumers.
Located in Immokalee, Florida, this acquisition provides a 65,000 square-foot packing facility that is conveniently situated near Lipman’s farms in Southwest Florida, allowing for short and efficient local transit. The facility is equipped to handle and store the increased volume of watermelon and vegetables produced by Lipman.
12-Lane AWETA Pepper Packing Machine: Lipman Family Farms has invested in a cutting-edge 12-lane AWETA machine for packing peppers in Florida. This machine expands the vegetable packing capabilities at Lipman’s existing facilities and significantly improves automation efficiencies. It can sort and pack approximately 5,200 cases of peppers per hour and offers various packing capabilities, including DRCs, PLU labeling, and bagging.
“The acquisition of Chapman Produce and the implementation of cutting-edge equipment, such as the AWETA machine, allow us to continue to streamline our operations and improve efficiency,” said Toby Purse, Chief Operating Officer of Lipman Family Farms. “These investments allow us to continue to enhance our operations, become more efficient, and deliver the same quality to our retailers and consumers alike.”
“With the new investments in acreage, equipment and facilities, our team can continue to meet our standard for producing and delivering quality fruits and vegetables,” Purse added.
Lipman Family Farms is excited to embark on this new phase of growth and innovation, as they continue to meet the evolving needs of their consumers.
An additional 1,400 acres of winter vegetables has been added by Lipman Family Farms of Immokalee, FL.
“This expansion of acreage compliments our spring, summer, and fall seasons by providing secure volumes of fresh veg year-round,” David Ackers, manager of procurement and sales, said in a press release. “This expansion allows us to leverage our supply network, distribution lanes and expanded packing capabilities in the east. Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop for our customers and provide a steady and controlled supply.”
The additional volume of winter vegetable production will complement Lipman’s existing relationships with local growers across the East coast, according to the release. The long-term partnerships include the largest bell pepper and cucumber growers in North Carolina, as well as one of the largest dry vegetable growers in New Jersey.
Lipman will focus on harvesting peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, and chili peppers, among other items, beginning in late October, the company said.
Additionally, Lipman continues to upgrade its packing facilities to fit growing volume and continued customization with quick turnaround and shortened shipping time.
Product is picked and packed on the same day, the company said. After harvest, the product is funneled through their state-of-the-art packing facilities in Florida, offering the ability to deliver both bulk and specialty packs in full truckloads and partial truckload volume to their customer base on the East Coast.
by NatureSweet®
San Antonio — Tomato industry leaders Lipman Family Farms and NatureSweet are joining forces to better serve customers and quick service restaurants by ensuring year‐round premium, high‐quality, high‐flavor slicing and salad tomatoes. NatureSweet brings to the table years of greenhouse growing expertise, while field grown tomato leader Lipman brings deep experience serving food service customers.
As the better burger, quick service and fast casual restaurant industry continues to grow in the United States, changing consumer taste demands high‐quality and exceptionally tasting ingredients, and Lipman Family Farms and NatureSweet help deliver on that promise.
“We’re pleased we’ll be able to assure a 52‐week supply of exceptional slicing and salad tomatoes to our valued clients,” said Lipman Family Farms CEO Kent Shoemaker. “NatureSweet is known for their successful snacking tomatoes and innovative packaging, and we’re glad to share our strengths and expertise in a partnership. Our goal is to bring the high flavor, high color, high density characteristics of our field grown Crimson variety to the greenhouse product we create with NatureSweet. Our food service customers need access to premium product on a year‐round basis. They also need greenhouse and field grown options.”
It’s a 100 percent joint venture between both companies with equal investments. The tomatoes will be cobranded and distributed under the Lipman name.
This is a first‐of‐its kind initiative to bring together the biggest food service names and the industry‐leading tomato suppliers. The partnership is planned to launch in October 2018.
About Lipman Family Farms:
Lipman Family Farms is a full service tomato and vegetable company operating in both open field and protected agriculture. Lipman is the largest open field tomato grower in North America. Lipman’s seed to shelf supply chain control – research & development, farming, processing, repacking, logistics and marketing – delivers the consistency and quality that has made Lipman Family Farms North America’s most dependable source of fresh tomatoes and vegetables.
About NatureSweet®:
NatureSweet® Tomatoes is the leading grower of premium, branded, best‐tasting fresh tomatoes in North America. Always vine‐ripened and hand‐picked at the peak of freshness, only NatureSweet® tomatoes guarantee great taste all year round. NatureSweet® tomatoes are carefully grown, harvested and packaged by more than 9,000 full‐time Associates, and are sold at major grocers, mass retailers, club stores and food service operators in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
By Lipman Family Farms
IMMOKALEE, FL — Lipman Family Farms – North America’s largest open field tomato grower has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ontario, Canada based Huron Produce, a greenhouse grower and distributor of tomatoes and vegetables with operations in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Huron Produce packs under the Suntastic® brand. The expansion into greenhouse product will allow Lipman Family Farms to offer its customers hothouse and field grown tomatoes and vegetables on a year-round basis.
“The Huron Produce acquisition is truly transformative,” said Darren Micelle, COO of Lipman Family Farms. “We look forward to the opportunities resulting from the introduction of our proprietary varieties into the protected agriculture space. We have innovative new products planned that will create value for our customers. Likewise, Huron Produce can now expand their customer offering to include field grown product. This is a classic win-win transaction. The addition of Huron gives us extraordinary product depth, expands our collective capabilities and broadens our distribution footprint, allowing us to better serve our customers with a single, year-round solution for tomatoes and vegetables. We’re excited to welcome the Huron team to the Lipman family.”
Huron Produce is a multigenerational, family owned company with over 50 years in the produce business. Commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Kints, President of Huron Produce said, “The transaction with Lipman will allow Huron to build on our years of success, accelerate our business strategies and enhance our service and product offering to our customers.”
As part of the acquisition, Lipman plans to expand operations with new facilities in Canada, Nebraska, a second location in Denver and a warehouse in McAllen, Texas. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2018.
About Lipman Family Farms
Lipman Family Farms is the largest field tomato grower in North America. From seed to shelf, Lipman’s total supply chain control – research & development, farming, processing, repacking, logistics to marketing – delivers the consistency and quality that has made Lipman Family Farms North America’s most dependable source of fresh tomatoes and vegetables.
Californa prune shipments are expected soar by nearly 100 percent this season. Meanwhile, a significant expansion involving two produce companies is taking place in North Carolina.
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service believes the 2017 California prune harvest will total 105,000 tons, a 99 percent increase over 2016’s 52,851-ton crop.
This year, the industry is returning to a more normal size harvest. Harvest concluded about a month ago. Weather in recent years has created challenges for prune growers, but growers say the trees are rebounding this year. California is the world’s largest producer of prunes, accounting for 40 percent of the world’s supply and nearly of all the supply in the U.S.
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