Sunkist's next steps

Here is coverage from The Packer's Don Schrack about the Sunkist annual meeting in Visalia. .
From Don's story:

Sunkist president and chief executive officer Tim Lindgren on Feb. 21 said total revenues for 2006 were $1.1 billion, an all-time high. He said growers of valencia oranges, grapefruit and lemons enjoyed record or near-record returns. Because of the January freeze, however, Lindgren said Sunkist in 2007 would focus on downsizing operations and reducing expenses. But he expressed guarded optimism.“Sunkist does not expect the freeze to have a materially adverse impact on its financial position,” Lindgren said in a company news release


Here is more coverage from the Tulare Advance Register about how crop expectations are slightly improved.

County crop losses, thought initially to be as high as 80 percent, now are being estimated at about 50 percent, officials at the Visalia Convention Center gathering said. Losses varied wildly depending on location and elevation, growers said
Damage to navel oranges is of greatest concern, Chrisman said. Navels are the major hand-fruit oranges, Chrisman said, while Valencias — which tend to be more thin-skinned and ripen later — are more suited for juice production.

TK: I was visiting recently with Bill Washburn, president of Foodpro International Inc., San Jose, Calif. Washburn has a long association with Lindgren and obviously is a big believer in what he can do for Sunkist. Washburn observes Lindgren, who was president of Sunkist's affiliated cooperative Fruit Growers Supply Company for 26 years, brings a strong operational focus to Sunkist. Washburn said Lindgren will look at cost-savings in the organization from top to bottom, considering everything from Sunkist's pricey headquarters to the number of processing plants to the company's number of sales offices throughout the U.S. Washburn said
This reading of Lindgren comes through in a Sunkist press release about the meeting as well.
"We will challenge every aspect of Sunkist’s operation in order to implement the most effective and cost efficient support for bringing our growers fruit to market…increasing utilization, reducing assessments and increasing returns," Lindgren said in the release Though Lindgren's window as leader of Sunkist is thought to be two years or so, he apparently is not in caretaker mode. Aside from the domestic initiatives, Washburn also notes that Lindgren was busy at Fruit Logistica networking with other global citrus suppliers and identifying opportunities for Sunkist.