Company Profile
Berry People LLC
Company Overview
Berry People LLC is a North American "Distribution Platform" that consolidates a year-round, full-line, branded supply of organic and conventional berries and avocados, sourcing from growers throughout Mexico, the US, and abroad, and distributing to a diversified and direct base of retail and wholesale accounts across the US and Canada.
The Company has a strong cultural "ethos" surrounding its people (thus the name and logo), starting with the most vulnerable in the supply chain (our migrant field labor) and including buyers, growers, employees, and other industry stakeholders, including competitors. Our core values are stewardship, complementarity, and empathy, and we see our role in the industry as collaborative more so than competitive.
The Company's clear vision, long-term strategic plans, experienced member and manager teams, have all produced impressive results on the short term, while at the same time establishing the corporate governance, internal controls, redundancy, and succession planning that will sustain these results over a long horizon.
Company History
Seeing a clear "blue ocean" opportunity in the organic Mexican berry and avocado space, the Downs, Ortiz, and Escalera families founded Berry People in 2017, pooling their resources, relationships, and experience to launch a north american distribution platform, Berry People LLC. The Ortiz and Escalera families comprise 40% of the Company's "captive" base of production, while the Downs family provide the day to date management, outside supplier sourcing, and strategic placement of company products across the US and Canada.
The Company is currently headquartered out of Hollister, CA, close to our California grower-base, but has its main shipping hub out of Long Beach California, with a growing presence out of McAllen, TX as well.
The Company's management team and growing sales, administrative, and operational staff has enjoyed increasing success in our day to day operations, and we pride ourselves on cultivating a company culture consistent with our values of complementarity, stewardship, and empathy, valuing each other's differences, holding our work and property with an open hand, and integrating the agenda of our team members and stakeholders with that of our own.
Notable Products / Brands
Berry People(r); Avo People(r)
Notable Clients
jerald.downs@berrypeople.com
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
Through strategic partnerships, Berry People has consolidated a branded, year-round, full-line supply of primarily organic berries and avocados from growers across the US, Mexico, and abroad, and has closed an a-list of 200+ retail and wholesale accounts across the US and Canada, including national and regional retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Sprouts, Raley's, and the like.
The Company's 7-year growth trajectory is projected at 40% per year, with growth in 2018, 2019, and 2020 projected at 100% per year
The Company is focused on "Blue Ocean" space within the fresh produce wholesale sector, namely "Organic, Berries, & from Mexico" where an under-supplied market provides the economic profits that fuel our growth and future enterprise value.
Benefits
The Company provides premium PPO health insurance, and pays 100% of the premium for the employee and all dependents. We also provide competitive base and variable compensation, the latter tied to Company, department, and individual performance.
As the Company matures beyond its start-up phase, we have future plans to incorporate retirement plans (i.e. 401K with employer matching) and other profit sharing incentives.