Turning a delicious but odd-shaped fruit into a household favorite wasn’t in the plan when a group of grower-hobbyists banded together in 1924 to form the California Avocado Growers Exchange. And two more years would pass before Rudolph Hass of La Habra, California, would plant the state’s first Hass avocado tree.At the time, avocado growers had no quality standards, no distribution channels, and only one facility, a packinghouse in Vernon, California. During that first year, the Growers Exchange packed 18,000 pounds of avocados from that packinghouse and, in doing so, launched an industry.Though the Vernon packinghouse has long since closed, the company that sprang from that Growers’ Exchange - now known as Calavo Growers, Inc. - is still going strong some 81 years later. In 2005, this publicly traded, diversified, global agribusiness packed approximately 35 percent of the California avocado crop, nearly double the market share of its closest competitor. Three modern packinghouses - strategically located in Santa Paula and Temecula, California, and Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico - teem with productivity and thrive on volume, packing approximately 200 million pounds per year. The company is now headquartered in Santa Paula, California and employs more than 500 people.

Intelligentsia Coffee’s mission is to provide our customers, staff, and community with an unparalleled and complete coffee and tea experience in an environment steeped in understanding, knowledge, skill, service and mutual respect. Intelligentsia exists to provide both a fulfilling work environment for our employees and the highest quality products for our customers. Both goals are equally necessary to the success of our business.

Primex International Trading Corp. was founded in 1989 by Ali Amin, whose family has been involved in producing pistachios for four generations. It first started planting pistachio orchards in 1990. In 2008 the company shipped about 30 million pounds of pistachios and more than 40 million pounds of almonds. Primex International Trading is a leading exporter and international trader that specializes in dried fruits and nuts. Through affiliate offices located around the world, the company ships such products as almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans, as well as apricots, figs, and raisins. Primex also has its own pistachio orchards and a processing plant in California.

SECO & Golden “100”, Inc. is a member owned purchasing cooperative headquartered in DeLand, Florida. The company was formed in 1945 by a group of dairy farmers who sought to improve their bargaining power by combining and leveraging their purchased requirements. Today the membership is comprised of a select group of agriculturally based cooperatives and proprietary companies that are engaged in the production of food and dairy products. The members collectively participate in purchasing programs designed to optimize opportunities within the supply chain for delivering added value. The cooperative is governed by a board of directors. Each of the member companies designates a director who sits on the board. In addition to addressing the performance of the business, the board receives and acts upon nominations and recommendations for new suppliers, new members and new programs. The directors are also actively involved in the progress and support of individual programs and serve as chairmen of the established program committees.

Hood River Distillers, Inc. (DSP-OR-1) was established in 1934 in Hood River, Oregon. It began by making fruit wines and brandies from the apples, pears and berries that were going to waste as excess production from the valley's abundant harvests.In the early days, Hood River Distillers used 470,000 boxes of Oregon apples annually to make products such as Old Delicious Brandy. Production capacity back then was 300,000 gallons per year. Hood River Distillers has been at its current bottling facility in Hood River since 1968 and has expanded the plant for storage and production line upgrades several times throughout the years. The company is currently producing more than 1.25 million cases per year. Today, Hood River Distillers is the largest and oldest liquor company in the Pacific Northwest. Hood River Distillers produces, imports and distributes more than 15 brands of spirits ranging from value to premium products, including whisky, rum, gin, vodka, brandy, tequila and liqueur. While Hood River Distillers distributes spirits in more than 40 states, its core distribution area is the Pacific Northwest.Hood River Distillers’ Premium spirits brands include Spudka Vodka, Pendleton Whisky, Brokers Gin, Yazi Ginger Vodka, Knickers Irish Cream Whisky, and ULLR.

Caito Foods Service, Inc. was founded in 1965. Caito Foods Service, Inc. distributes a line of food and beverage products, and floral items to retailers and foodservice operators in the Midwest and Eastern United States. It offers conventional produce items; natural and organic products, including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, juices, organic salad dressings, nuts, and dried fruits; non-perishable products, including salad dressings, dips, candies, fruit drinks, seasonal nuts, snacks, chocolates, bird foods, and pet foods; and floral items, including fresh-cut bouquets, arrangements, blooming plants, foliage plants, floral supplies, and balloons. Caito Foods Service company, through its subsidiary, also provides full load and less than load transportation services for its products through a fleet of trucks.

Danish pig farmers have found that it pays to cooperate. With some 12,000 members, Danish Crown AmbA cooperative owns the Danish Crown Group of meat processing businesses. About half of the group's sales come from pork; beef accounts for only about 6%. With a substantial number of pig and beef slaughterhouses and cutting plants, Danish Crown's subsidiaries produce fresh and processed pork and beef products in Europe, the UK, and the US. The company has both retail and industrial customers. Danish Crown's products are available worldwide. Its foreign subsidiaries include meat processors Tulip Ltd. and Geo Adams & Sons in the UK and US-based Plumrose.

Cooperative Regions of Organic Producers Pool (CROPP) is one of the largest organic farmer cooperatives in the US. Its 1,341 farmer/members produce the co-op's Organic Valley Family of Farms brand of fluid and shelf-stable milk, along with cheese, butter, and soy milk. Beyond the dairy barn, the cooperative also offers organic citrus juices, produce, eggs, meats, and poultry. Organic Valley retail products are sold at food retailers, and its ingredients are marketed to other organic food processors. Wisconsin-headquartered CROPP's member/farmers are located in California, Florida, and the northeast, northwest, and midwest regions of the US.

The Ganong family and friends have put their heart and soul into the chocolate confectioner's art. An art never lost. For the special skills in making quality confectionery have been passed down from father to son throughout the generations in the mall town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Ganong Bros., Limited makes and sells boxed and bagged chocolates and non-chocolate candies across Canada, the UK, and the US. Its product line includes popular treats such as Chicken Bones and Fruitfull candies. Ganong Bros., Limited operates a retail shop in its hometown of St. Stephen, Canada, and has an online retail business where visitors can purchase premium products. It also has offices in Moncton, Canada; Toronto; and Vancouver.

Popcorn. We know popcorn better than anyone else. Why? Because we are the original brand name of popcorn in America. We’ve been around since 1914 - longer than any of those other guys! American Pop Corn Company was founded in 1914 and processes and markets JOLLY TIME® Pop Corn in all 50 states and around the world. JOLLY TIME® Pop Corn is a fourth generation, family owned company and employs about 185 popcorn connoisseurs. Our address? One Fun Place, Sioux City, Iowa.

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