Come to the edge

As noted here before Tim Vaux and DuPont are parting ways. The man most associated with DuPont’s sponsorship of United’s Produce Industry Leadership Program is leaving DuPont at the end of April because of a company reorganization.
Contacted today in Fresno by The Packer's Don Schrack, Vaux said he hopes to stay in the produce industry.
Tom Stenzel of United told me of the day when Vaux broached the idea of a leadership program that would team United and DuPont.
He recalled that Vaux approached him in 1994 after a United Outlook round table session at the group’s annual convention in February. The round table topic centered on the need to attract and develop young people in the produce industry.
“He came to me and asked me if we would be interested in working together on a leadership program for produce,” Stenzel recalled.
“It’s amazing how the seed of an idea can take root, and he’s been the been the guy pushing it for so, so long,” Stenzel said.
DuPont has confirmed it will sponsor the 2007-08 class as well.
Whatever happens to DuPont's sponsorship in the future, Stenzel said United is committed to the program. He is right when he says, "Tim would want it that way."


In 2000, Vaux was a c0-recipient of Packer Produce Man of the Year:
From The Packer library:

This year the award went to not one, but two people. Robb Bertels, publisher of The Packer Publications, referred to them as "The Patriarch" and "Daddy Warbucks," but the rest of the produce world knows them as Bill Spencer of Spencer Fruit Co., Reedley, Calif., and Tim Vaux of DuPont Agricultural Products.
Perhaps no one was as surprised as Vaux himself.
"I never expected anything like this," he said.
Bertels cited the critical roles each man played in creating the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association's Leadership Program as key reasons for giving them the award. "To say that the Produce Industry Leadership Program has tremendously affected the personal and professional lives of many of its fellows is not an overstatement," Bertels said.
"While the leaders that are developed from the program are the priority of our honorees, today we celebrate the developers, the leader makers."
Vaux modestly downplayed his role in the program, saying that winning awards isn't what the program is all about. "I don't do this to win awards," he said. "I believe in what we're doing."
Spencer seconded that emotion. "I believe in United," he said to the crowd. "It is absolutely essential to my business and most of yours."
Bertels extolled the leadership qualities of the two men, as well as the importance of their ability to teach others those qualities.
Spencer said his role in the leadership program has been especially gratifying.
"It's like most things," he said. "The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. I have been privileged to be a part of this."

From another Packer story from 2000:

Kim Giese, member of the 2000 graduating class, presented program co-founder and The Packer's Produce Man of the Year award co-recipient Tim Vaux of DuPont Agricultural Products with a framed copy of an inspirational poem entitled "Come to the Edge" by 19th century French poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Vaux likes to share the poem with each class as it begins its training.

Here is the poem:

COME TO THE EDGE!

Come to the edge.
We might fall.

Come to the edge.
It's too high!

And they came
and he pushed

and they flew ...

TK: Thanks to Tim with DuPont for helping the industry's young leaders come to the edge and fly.

EDLP and Viva la Mexico

Even Wal-Mart executives are saying openly now that a return to their Every Day Low Pricing discount roots has helped their recent sales performance. Here is Wal-Mart's treasurer talking about the retailer's fourth quarter performance.
From a Reuters story:

"Getting back to really every day low prices and making sure we were the price leader," said Charles Holley, Wal-Mart's treasurer, speaking at a Citigroup retail conference. "That was very important to us in the fourth quarter." To try boost sales and expand beyond its core of low-income shoppers, Wal-Mart began stocking its stores with higher-priced merchandise, like organic foods and plasma televisions, hoping to appeal to wealthier shoppers. But the efforts yielded mixed results and after months of down playing its discount prices, Wal-Mart returned to its low-price strategy early in the holiday season, announcing price cuts on toys and games in October.

TK: As much as Wal-Mart would in some ways like to match Target's upper middle class appeal, the Bentonville-based retailer's identity and consumer demographic is different. Dick Spezzano told me a couple of weeks ago that some studies have show that the household income of Target shoppers is as much as $20,000 more than Wal-Mart. I have to think organic produce will be taking a lower priority for Wal-Mart in the months ahead if the chain is indeed trying to be true to its roots.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart is going to be investing in Mexico in a very big way in the upcoming year, this story reports. Beyond the retail store growth, Wal-Mart's banking operation hope to exploit an underserved population: 80% of the country's population has no bank account.
From HispanicBusiness.com:

Eduardo Solorzano, the top executive of Wal-Mart Mexico, told a press conference that the Wal-Mart banking operation will be launched after June and that the program will have between 10 and 12 branches by the end of the year, most of them in and around the capital. Plans call for up to 60 branch offices at Wal-Mart stores throughout the nation by the end of 2008, though that degree of expansion requires approval of Mexican federal regulators, Solorzano noted. He said some 80 percent of the Mexican population of just over 100 million does not have a bank account or credit card, and that the company sees huge potential in that statistic. The executive said the 2007 plan will result in a 12-percent increase in installed capacity in Mexico, where it currently has 893 stores. He estimated the growth will provide employment to some 20,000 new hires. Wal-Mart is Mexico's top retailer, present in 139 Mexican cities and employing more than 140,000 people.

TK: Wal-Mart's continued expansion in Mexico should be positive for U.S. fresh produce suppliers who are doing business with Wal-Mart Mexico now. I can't help but think, though , that getting credit cards may be no great blessing for those millions of underserved Mexicans.

Taco Bell testing

Now Taco Bell says it will test lettuce for E. coli at the farm level.
The Dallas Morning News notes Yum Brands Inc. lost $20 million from an E. coli outbreak last fall.
From the story:

To help prevent a recurrence, the company launched the farm-testing program. The company did not offer additional information about the program. But Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association, said she's not surprised to see restaurateurs becoming more aggressive in the field. She said some restaurant companies may now require testing by their shippers. "I think every company is going to address it differently," she said. "Many are going to be having frank conversations with their suppliers and probing deeper to make sure that there are good food safety practices back to the farm." She said food service companies are increasingly questioning players along the food chain about their practices and requiring audits and certification to ensure that precautions are being taken.


TK: I think adding another layer of testing - how the testing will be done wasn't explained - is probably inevitable due diligence for Yum Brands. But testing for pathogens after fresh produce is grown is not as important as putting in place GAPs that would prevent their spread in the first place. Again, this highlights the importance of all growers putting in place science based leafy green GAPs standards that will in fact reduce risk.