As part of plans to significantly expand its US apple programme over the next six years, T&G Global, known by its US subsidiary EnzaFruit Products Inc (EPI), has opened a new North American office in Wenatchee, Washington State.
This presence, right in the heart of the major growing regions and close to T&G’s grower and distribution partners, is expected to foster closer relationships with stakeholders through the supply chain.
The move coincides with T&G Global’s becoming the master licence manager for North American distribution on 1 September, including handling exports of US fruit through its California office.
“The Oppenheimer Group (Oppy) will continue to handle the majority of the Enza North American programme and significantly grow its sales into the future, leveraging its extensive market experience and long-term relationship with T&G,” the company announced in a press release. “The volume reflects the strong contribution Oppy have made to the establishment of the Enza programme for over a half a century and the value created through its varieties and brands.”
T&G Global has also appointed Columbia Marketing International (CMI), as its third domestic sales agent starting from the 2016 season.
“This is a natural alignment within the program as McDougall and Sons, one of three packers of Enza fruit and a major grower of Enza varieties, is an owner of CMI,” the statement read. “The efforts of CMI will complement those of established distributors Oppy and Rainier Fruit Company (RFC); together the three agents will each sell all of the T&G apple varieties.”
“It’s a natural fit for CMI to join our other two very strong sales agents as CMI’s owners have already been growing and packing all three of the T&G varieties for many years,” explained Darren Drury, executive general manager of topfruit at T&G Global.
He added that these initiatives underpinned a plan to grow the Enza programme from the current 2m-plus cartons per annum to more than triple that number by 2022.
“Pipfruit remains a key focus and a major part of T&G’s business globally, supported by our outstanding varieties and brands such as Jazz, Envy and Pacific Rose, an expanding grower base and a global export network,” said Drury. “Our North American strategy has been built on the continuing growth and momentum of the apple industry in the USA, with consumers falling in love with the apple and pear category again.”
This growth, he suggested, was based on the growing popularity of new varieties with full flavours. “The Enza programme has been built on selecting growers who share the values and vision of T&G and the exceptional varieties that make up the programme including Jazz and Envy, and also Pacific Rose,” he said. “We place a major emphasis on our relationships across the supply chain and we are delighted to have strong distribution partners such as Oppy, RFC and CMI.”
