Supplier Side
Trailblazer Foods celebrates 30 years of quality grocery products
Portland, Ore.-based Trailblazer Food Products, a manufacturer of private label and branded grocery products, said this year marks its 30th year in business. Gary Walls founded Trailblazer Foods in 1984 and began manufacturing preserves and jellies under the Walls Berry Farm name. By 1991, the company’s workforce had more than doubled, and in 1999, the company moved to its current 40,000-square-foot facility.
Walls retired in 2000, but Miller Family Holdings acquired the entire company in 2002. Since then, Trailblazer Foods has continued to grow, supported by its numerous certifications, including organic food certification in 2005, kosher food certification in 2008 and Safe Quality Food Level 2 certification in 2010.
“We’re extremely proud of the milestones we’ve achieved during the past 30 years,” said Rob Miller, president and CEO of Trailblazer Foods. “The grocery industry is exciting and dynamic, and were thrilled to be part of an industry with such an important role in our economy and lives. We see a bright future ahead.”
Smitty Bee Honey expands with energy-efficient facilities
A.s Smitty Bee Honey, Defiance, Iowa, celebrates 25 years in business, the company will be adding approximately 20,000 square feet to its facilities. The company said it expects the expansion to increase capacity by an estimated 50 percent. The new space will accommodate a retail bottling room, a research and development laboratory, offices and additional warehouse space, all designed with features to make operations energy-efficient.
A honey packer and producer, Smitty Bee said it takes its commitment to the environment very seriously. It considers the environmental impact of its operations during every step of the honey production process, all in an effort to protect the honeybees and ecosystems critical to its business. This commitment also applies to the construction process of its new facility.
The new addition features heated floors for the entire building, energy-efficient light fixtures, redesigned batch tanks, high-efficiency ceiling fans, and a 2-inch-thick cooler panel for energy-efficiency within the location’s climate control system. The company also installed a hot water boiler system 20 times the size of its predecessor that uses half the energy. And future building improvement plans include a new roof for the existing building that is designed to reduce heating and cooling usage by 20 percent, Smitty Bee Honey said.
“Taking care of the environment is just the right thing to do,” said Tony Schmitz, general manager for Smitty Bee. “There are no industry standards for environmental impacts, but Smitty Bee Honey and all of our employees take pride in holding ourselves to a higher standard in everything we do.”
EuroCan Pet Products celebrates 25th anniversary
This year marks the 25th anniversary of New Hamburg, Ontario-based EuroCan Pet Products. What started in a garage in suburban Toronto in 1989 is now a North American GFSI-certified manufacturer of all-natural beef, chicken, pork, turkey and vegetable-based pet treats. To celebrate, the company said it will introduce new products and innovative new packaging and also will host a week-long open house from June 16–20. Customers, sales reps, vendors and members of the media will get to tour the plant and be the first to see new products and packaging designs.
“Dogs love our pure and natural treats because they taste great, and pet parents love them because they are made without additives, preservatives or anything artificial,” said Mauro Trinchini, EuroCan’s founder and president. “We have been oven-roasting and wood-smoking our products the same way for 25 years. At the same time, pet food and treat safety has become more and more important, so we have continuously improved our plant, policies and procedures to reach the GFSI benchmark under SQF-Level 2.”
Russo’s wins first annual taste test
Russo’s Retail LLC, a Houston-based supplier of gluten-free pizza, took top honors in ECRM’s first annual Private Brand Taste Test. Held on April 7 during ECRM’s Private Brand Foods EPPS in Cape Coral, Fla., the event was sponsored by Store Brands.
Five private brand food vendors put their specialties to the test, pitting their private brand concepts against their national brand equivalents. Participating in the taste test were Duke Food Productions, an Easley, S.C.-based supplier of frozen desserts, refrigerated dips and more; Freeze-Dry Foods Ltd., an Oakville, Ontario-headquartered supplier of premium, nutritionally targeted dry meals; Russo’s Retail; S.A. Piazza & Associates, a Clackamas, Ore.-headquartered supplier of frozen and deli pizza, as well as par-baked pizza crusts; and Villa du Ravioli, a Montreal-based supplier of filled and unfilled fresh-frozen pasta.
Donning blindfolds, judges representing the private brand buyer side were led to each of the vendors’ tables, where they tasted two products and indicated their preference. When all was said and done, the taste test ended up in a tie; all of the judges preferred the private brand concepts from two companies — Russo’s (gluten-free pizza) and Freeze-Dry Foods (chili) — over their national brand equivalents. (That said, all of the vendors scored very well.) To break the tie, ECRM recruited an additional judge for taste-testing duties — and Russo’s was deemed the winner.
Equator Design on growth path with acquisition and new offices
For more than two decades, Equator Design, Batavia, Ill., has functioned as a global packaging design firm for both national and private label brands. It specializes in providing its clients true “global thinking with a local perspective.”
To expand its global presence, Equator Design said it purchased Dublin, Ireland-based Link Design Studios in December of 2013. Established in 2008, Link Design Studios will now operate under the global Equator brand name and will introduce Equator’s full design to shelf service. This acquisition brings Equator’s global office count to five, with locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia and now Ireland. The company is focused on continuing to grow its global presence and already is looking into acquiring several more agencies with brandname portfolios.
Equator Design said it will also be expanding in the United States to include a second office — in Chicago. The new office is scheduled to open in May in the Civic Opera House and will function as a complement to the company’s existing Batavia, Ill., location. To inform the public of these exciting changes, Equator Design introduced a new website in January. The website showcases the company’s award-winning work, as well as highlights its “design to shelf without compromise” ethos.