In the second instalment of our two-part interview, John Anderson of Vancouver-based company Oppy talks exclusively to The Importer about rebranding the company, working with Irish shareholder Total Produce and introducing new technology.
Click here to read part one of John Anderson's interview.
When it comes to produce branding, what are the key trends in the region?
John Anderson: With a few highly visible and well-promoted exceptions (like Cuties and Halos), I think the value of branding in the produce department is yet to be proven. At Oppy, we’re more interested in helping our retail partners differentiate through the product mix and by offering more items grown in ethical production systems, like Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade. In 2013, our Fair Trade-certified sweet bell pepper volume from Divemex doubled. It is exciting and humbling to provide a channel for consumers to contribute to the urgent needs in grower communities.
This time last year you spoke about the company's decision to rebrand as Oppy and to refine the way it manages its supply chain. What impact would you say these changes have had on your business?
JA: Hugely positive!Repositioning a 156 year-old company is no small task, but our team and our grower partners have brought Oppy to life in a real and exciting way. The acceptance of the new branding has been overwhelmingly positive… growers, retailers and our other supply chain partners have been very supportive.
You also mentioned a new enterprise management system. Now that the system is in place, can you give us some examples of the kind of processes that this system has helped to improve?
JA: We all know how urgent the produce business is, so having the best information available at any given moment enables us to make the well-informed decisions that optimise our performance. Optimo, our enterprise management system, is readily integrated with grower and retail systems, streamlining communication and access to data. Among many other assets, it gives users access to literally hundreds of reports that equip them to make every transaction count. 2013 was a record year at Oppy. While our highly committed team of professionals has earned and deserves full credit, the integration of Optimo to more areas of our business has helped all of us achieve more by increasing our efficiency and enabling us to deliver on the promise of our brand better than ever.
Irish fresh produce giant Total Produce agreed last December to invest in Oppy and by 2017 will take a 65 per cent shareholding in its parent company Grandview Ventures. What will this mean for your business and for its customers in the coming years?
JA: Our first year as a member of the Total Produce family has been gratifying in a lot of ways. We’ve learned a great deal from one another, and integrated very smoothly. Our shared synergies have led to exciting opportunities to expand our grower network and realise efficiencies. On the whole, it has been 'business as usual' at Oppy, and we expect that to continue.
In terms of its position on the North American market, how does Oppy compare with other players in the market when it comes to sales, volume traded and overall size?
JA: In 2013, we marketed nearly 40m packages of produce. While we are neither the largest nor the smallest full-service produce marketing company in North America, I think it is fair to say we are the most committed to true partnership with our growers and our customers.
What other important developments have there been at Oppy itself during the past year?
JA: By elevating people to new roles in 2013, we have made our management team stronger than ever. For example, Brett Libke was promoted to general manager for our Eastern US sales and operations; Evan Myers is now director of imports; Ben Vallejo was promoted to sales manager; and Audrey Desnoyers to national business development manager.
