Baker-Murakami Announce Merger

The merger of two major Treasure Valley onion shippers, Murakami Produce Co. and Baker Packing Co., has been announced. Both companies, located in Ontario, Ore., will be consolidated as an “onion supershed” on July 1, 2017, doing business as Baker & Murakami Produce Co.

“Murakami and Baker have always had mutual respect for one another,” says Grant Kitamura, managing member of Murakami Produce. “Both businesses have been successful and have reputations of quality product, honesty and integrity. It seemed only natural to merge the two operations to create a packing facility to establish a new economy of scale in Idaho-Eastern Oregon with the prowess to compete on any level.”

Steve Baker, president of Baker Packing, says he and his father, Baker founder and CEO Jerry Baker, look forward to working with the people from Murakami Produce Co. “We have the utmost respect for what they have accomplished over their long and successful history, and we believe both companies will be able blend their cultures into making for a better and more efficient company.”

To facilitate the efficiency, European-designed and manufactured grading and packing equipment is being installed in the existing Baker packing facility, and construction of a new 20,000-square foot finished product/shipping structure has begun at the site, according to the principals. That structure will bring the new company’s total packing and shipping area to a total of 68,000 square feet.

The merger has been in the works for more than a year with management teams discussing the creation of a “state-of-the-art packing facility, a facility that could stand the test of time and allow us to be more competitive in our industry,” says Kitamura.

Steve Baker agreed, adding, “Baker and Murakami have been leaders in our local industry for years, and we are all very excited as this new venture will be a game changer here in the Treasure Valley.”

Baker Packing’s history goes back to 1972, when Jerry Baker started an onion division for DeBruyn Produce. The operation was initially housed in a 7,200-square foot warehouse in Ontario, and the present company sits in the same location. Steve joined DeBruyn in 1984, and the two men purchased and renamed the company Baker Packing Co. in 1997.

Murakami Produce started in Ontario by the late Sig Murakami as the onion packing and shipping division of Murakami Farms in 1969. The farming operation ceased in 1983. Kitamura, who has been with the company since 1980, says Murakami Produce entered into a joint venture for sales with Idaho Falls-based Potandon Produce in 2006. A six-farm Treasure Valley group consolidated as Murakami Growers LLC in 2014 and became part owners of the company.

As two of the region’s leading shippers, Baker and Murakami have established solid reputations with their customers. Kitamura says the term “supershed” refers to superior service and onion quality, as well as increased volume from the combined facilities. It also refers to the technological capabilities demonstrated by new equipment with color sorting, increased precision in sizing and internal grading capabilities