New company targets growth in dried fruits
Fruit, a new company positioned to benefit from growth in
fruit-derived ingredients, and to offer security of supply from
farm right through to finished products.
Suppliers of fruit ingredients - particularly dried fruits - have experienced increasing demand for their wares in recent times. The likes of cranberry, cranberry and blueberry have been riding superfruits trend, thanks to increased awareness of their antioxidant content. This had led food manufacturers to use dried fruits as ingredients in their products, particularly in baked goods, cereals, bars, and beverages. The new company is formed out of a merger between dried fruit processor Atwater Foods and tart cherry processor Cherry Country Fruitworks, which also operates as a large scale freezer warehouse and storage facility. Together, the product line includes dried cherries, apples, blueberries, cranberries, tart cherry concentrate and cherry powder. "This merger will enable us to further build our industrial customer base while bolstering our distributor and export business," says Randy Atwater, co-founder and former general manager of Atwater Foods, who is now taking on the role of director of sales and marketing of the new company. "We have assembled a very strong management team to further grow and develop this unique and exciting business." In addition, Shoreline says it is able to now positioned to control quality thanks to its complete tracing capabilities and food safety procedures. This is because it becomes part of a "family" of companies in the cherry arena that also includes Shoreline Fruit Growers, a cooperative of cherry growers that will supply Shoreline Fruit and other clients. In addition to Randy Atwater and T J Keyes, a founder of Cherry Country FruitWorks, Shoreline Fruit is also part-owned by Cherry Bay Orchards and Cherry Ke, two cherry-growing businesses in northern Michigan. In terms of development, Shoreline Fruit has said it will be focusing on "unique processes that deliver cherry and other fruit products in their purest form possible". No executive from Shoreline Fruit was available to comment prior to publication of this article on the details of the merger agreement, or to give any more details about the cherry product development plans. The new company officially comes into existence on April 1. Its headquarters are in Travers City, MI. As for the other sites under the new company, Atwater brings a dried apple plant in Lyndonville, New York - said to be the only major site of its kind in the eastern states - as well as two drying facilities, one in Lyndonville and one in Williamsburg, MI. Cherry Country Fruitworks' facility is in Williamsburg, MI.
