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The Big Squeeze: Valley Juice Makers Adding Capacity

pomegranates are big money

If you want to compete in the increasingly crowded,health-conscious juice business,you better consider setting up shop near the source,in the US fruit basket called the San Joaquin Valley.
That’s what some of the biggest food makers in the world are doing,expanding existing operations,starting up new plants, joint venturing and buying into what has become a $27 billion industry.
For farmers this is good news, selling a piece of fruit that otherwise had a shelf life of a few weeks ,sometimes taking former culls,or what was cattle feed or a waste product – now transformed into premium priced juice or other byproduct in high demand.
It started with those Santa Cruz hippie-types led by Greg Steltenpohl  in 1980 who juiced fruit out of the back of their VW van and named their smoothie Odwalla for a character in a poem with the lofty goal to “help humans break free from the dull mass of over-processed foods so prevalent today.”
Amen,brother.
Odwalla now is no back yard operation.Owned by beverage giant Coca-Cola they supply the nation with refrigerated fruit smoothies from one production plant in Dinuba California, the tree fruit and grape capital of the state.
This month Odwalla announced more organic offerings with three new flavors – each with USDA seal and ”not from concentrate, gluten-free, vegan, and contain an excellent source of antioxidant Vitamin A” the company announced a few days ago.
Today,it is not just fruit smoothies that are big business anymore. Hip new drinks or ancient comebacks like pomegranate juice and teas are now manufactured a few miles down the road in Del Rey in Fresno County and supplied to the world by POM Wonderful,owned by LA billionaire Stewart Resnick. Here too, expansion is the word with a planned 7 fold increase in water thru-put being permitted this month by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board(CVRWQCB).
Acreage of pomegranates has more than tripled in Fresno County in the past 6 years.Next door in Tulare County 500 more acres of the trees were added in the past year helping supply POM, now a reported $165 million business. When the Del Rey plant is out of season it makes tea.The company won’t reveal details of its expansion plans other than what can be gleaned from the permit as of yet.
Seeds Have Value
As part of their expansion, Pom has plans to build a new 37,180sf (aril)seed processing building because of the increasing value of these seeds as a product instead of a waste problem. The company packages the arils marketed for both their sweetness and tart flavor for”all your favorite dishes. POM POMS Fresh Arils are loaded with vitamins, potassium and they’re known for their powerful antioxidants known as polyphenols.“ Chocolate covered arils are sold now at gourmet stores.
Resnick has not been shy about making health claims for pomegranate products getting POM in some hot water with a judge recently but the issues are still being resolved.
Besides the improvements at the Del Rey plant we have mentioned the company is finishing up construction of a new dining hall and gym as well as guard station and entrance gate for employees and just received the OK to put in a private air strip next to the plant.
New Juice Plant
In nearby Kern County, Resnick’s company Paramount Citrus and partner in the ‘Cutie’ brand of tangerines, Sun Pacific are in a legal tussle over who owns the Cuties label for the new fruit juice business that just started up this year. That start-up,Califia Farms, makes not just tangerine juice but now almond milk and cocoanut water expanding their reach in the health-oriented natural drinks sector.
Guess who is helping make this launch? That hippy-type who started Odwalla more than 30 years ago.
Here is how Sun Pacific is marketing their product these days.
“Odwalla founder Greg Steltenpohl has teamed with farming visionary Sun Pacific to bring you Cuties Juice™. Cuties Juice™ comes straight from the best source – Nature! We juice and blend our fruit at our Eco-Friendly juice plant in California and put it in a bottle so Cuties® can be enjoyed year-round. No need to add funny stuff, because we use the best that Nature has to offer. You got it – Cuties Juice™ has NO sugar, NO dyes, NO preservatives, or any other sneaky stuff. Our 100% Tangerine Juice is never from concentrate and our Cuties® Smoothies are 100% Juice.”

With sodas now being blamed in part for the nation’s big waistlines, Coke should have good reason to emphasize its healthier offerings like Odwalla juices. Cocoa Cola has been competing with bottled waters, flavored waters, sports drinks and teas helping to send per capita soda consumption down 17 percent since 1998, according to  Beverage Digest.
Tulare County Joint Venture

Not to be left behind, earlier this year – two of the larger orange juice processors – Sunkist and Ventura Coastal formed a new joint venture with two plant sites,one north of Visalia and one in Tipton – both undergoing expansion and adding silos as we speak.
In a deal announced this winter, Sunkist Growers and Ventura Coastal joined forces, uniting their long-time juice processing operations in a 50%/50% joint venture, headed by William Borgers, CEO of Ventura Coastal.

“The two processing facilities are extremely complimentary,” said Borgers. “Both Sunkist and Ventura Coastal bring a steady supply of products grade fruit, a skilled group of employees, state-of-the-art processing equipment and high quality products into the new company.”

“We believe the efficiencies achieved will better serve both our customers and growers,” added Sunkist President & CEO Russ Hanlin. ”

Enter Starbucks

Now Starbucks too, wants into the juice business buying a San Bernardino company last year, Evolution Fresh. Starbucks has launched their first juice bar at a Starbucks outlet on the West Coast this summer and will open in the Bay Area this fall.The juice bar will sell bottled Evolution Fresh fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and food. Sometimes people have a smoothy to refresh or as a meal replacement or even to cleanse their diet. The juice brand will compete with rival Jamba Juice and even McDonald’s who is now in the juice biz as well.
Evolution Fresh says they cold press and squeeze the juices to retain more of the flavors, vitamins and nutrients of raw fruit and vegetables through the use of an innovative technology called High Pressure Processing (HPP), “which allows us to safely process juice without the use of heat.”
In Kern County Bolthouse Farms was recently purchased by Campbell Soup for $1.55 billion to help the firm move beyond  their line of V8 juice into refrigerated juices. Bolthouse is a major player in carrots and vegetable juices as well as other blends.
Going Year Round
Also in Kern County the CRWQCB is working on a permit for another major juice company expansion at the Spicer City Juice processing plant at 23145 Lerdo Highway between Buttonwillow and Lost Hills in Kern County. The plant seasonally produces fruit juice concentrate from pomegranates. The proposed expansion would allow the plant to process juice from other fruits and operate most of the year, increasing wastewater flows from under 0.1 million gallons per year to as much as 6.7 million gallons per year. The associated wastewater discharge would be to unlined ponds prior to reuse for irrigation of about 2,200 acres of crops. The juice company is owned by SunnyGemLLC that includes Sandridge Partners and McCarthy Farms.

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