Growers Express Opens Green Giant Fresh Consolidation Center

Growers Express is opening a 70,000-square-foot Green Giant Fresh cooler, consolidation and distribution facility in Gonzales, Calif. Advantages to choosing Gonzales include proximity to farming operations, ease of doing business and less truck congestion, as well as updating the facility design to meet the future of the business. Improvements in facility layout, design and function, plus a 50% increase in storage capacity, will improve cut-to-cool times, leverage existing investments in warehouse management and tracking technologies and reduce environmental impact and costs. Taylor Farms announced the expansion of their 80,000-square-foot fresh-cut vegetable processing facility in late 2013. Growers Express decided to locate its operation next door to improve customer service, minimize load times and physically align with one of its strongest Green Giant brand partners, say company officials. The facility utilizes the most efficient cooling equipment, has doors that maintain the cold chain during the loading process and unload the field trucks in a semi-enclosed area to protect vegetables from sun and wind damage. Rear finished product delivery doors are set up to receive product for cross-dock and consolidation without interrupting the loading flow. Gary Andreasian, president of Growers Express, says, “As Freight and freshness has become more important to our customers and consumers we aligned with Taylor Farms Retail to offer more efficient loading and consolidation center across a much larger set of Green Giant Fresh branded products. This facility will put us in a position where customers can begin to look at Green Giant Fresh as a one-stop program. Come visit us to see the new standard in fresh produce consolidation and efficiency.”