Looking back to 1946 it seems extraordinary that it all started with the founders Harry and Percy Burgess - known mainly in the potato industry through their premises at Kings Cross station goods yard where the crop would arrive daily into the sidings.
Today, Produce World, which umbrellas nine trading companies, six packhouses and two importing companies, each run as independent profit centres and all backed by a distribution network, will reach an annual turnover in excess of £130 million.
The next generation of three brothers, Russell, Stanley and Roly Burgess built on their main strength of an understanding of the English potato and vegetable trade. But company history reveals a commercial curiosity which left no stone unturned in the early years.
Harry concentrated on growing vegetables and potatoes near Whittlesey, and brother, Percy sold produce, from the family farm and other growers, through the wholesale business in London, and a retail outlet in Richmond, Surrey.
In 1946, after the Second World War, Russell Burgess was established as a company, being incorporated in 1955 and subsequently transferring to the then centre of the fruit and vegetable universe at Old Covent Garden, and recognising a similar opportunity to expand into Cardiff.
Running in parallel was the need to maintain continuity of supply, which led to a farm in Pembrokshire near Milford Haven, supplying the first early new potatoes.
Today William Burgess, managing director and chief executive, remains true to the diktat of his father David, from whom he took over in 1980.
“Even then, we saw our role as marketing our produce sensibly and being part of the food chain,” William says.
“Good packing is like manufacturing, but to make it successful it needs attention to detail, and the confidence of those who supply it.
“We’ve never tried to be hard nosed traders. We’ve always tried to pay above the market average to recognise quality, because we were there for the long term.”
As the retailing of produce began to show signs of sophistication, Russell Burgess was among the first potato pre-packers remembered for its Fortnite pack, and in those days it was the Co-ops’ largest supplier.
In retrospect the 1980s was the time when the produce industry was changing fast. The impact of the multiples in today’s terms had yet to be felt, but they were becoming a presence, with greater demands for marketing skills and disciplines which at that point were alien to many traders.
It is to the credit of David Burgess that within a year of taking over the reins he had forged the first links with Waitrose. Today those links are even stronger as Produce World is category manager for root crops - and with the recent acquisition of British & Brazilian (B&B) - stone fruit, grapes and melons as well.
Of course 30 years ago the wholesale sector, with its greengrocer clientele, held the balance, separating the two different types of retailing. But it was already beginning to show signs of shrinkage.
UK grower co-operatives were already linking into contract growing for their supermarket customers, and there was demand for specialist packers who could offer full storage and inspection services linked to daily deliveries - clear indications of the future.
Russell Burgess took advantage of this explosion by enhancing its own existing facilities and, at the turn of the millennium, merged with Sutton Bridge, once owned by the Potato Marketing Board, to create Solanum - making it a state-of-the-art pack-house in the first of series of horticultural links which would strengthen its marketing position even further.
A joint partnership with Isleham Carrot Growers, with its reputation for top quality carrots and parsnips, followed and in 2003 Produce World became the umbrella company for both, alongside Rustler Produce which contract-packed onions, leeks, garlic and shallots.
With their own farms and growers supplying under contract, this creates a close knit group, with Produce World providing agronomists and marketing expertise to disseminate information on the latest cultural techniques, new varieties and much more, but with the final consumers always in mind.
And the policy, as William Burgess succinctly puts it, of “reinventing ourselves”, has continued.
In 2004 an extensive £1 million ongoing modernisation of its pack-house at Yaxley near Peterborough, which had become surplus to requirements, transformed the site into a distribution depot complete with packing lines and storage facilities
It became the headquarters of the newly created Produce World, and the establishment of Frupac, attracting B&B and Suncrop Produce as tenants. In the same year the group set up its own prepared vegetable venture, Prep Direct. Its current range includes broccoli and cauliflower florets and added value potato dishes.
In January this year the company announced the acquisition of B&B, also a major Waitrose supplier with an annual turnover in excess of £30 million.
William Burgess admits it was the first time that the group has taken on a fruit interest.
“With fewer and fewer customers, category suppliers are linking even more closely to their retail partners and are under pressure to continue to create economies of scale throughout the distribution chain,” he says.
“B&B is long established, soundly based, and has a similar tradition of service as ourselves. So while the products are very different we had a great deal in common.”
Importing in fact is not a mystery. It has new spring potatoes grown under contract in Majorca, while Briess Produce, another company in the group, sources salads and vegetables mainly from Spain and France.
And to complete the picture, as the organic market continues to expand, the latest step is the creation of Nene Organics, which operates a box delivery scheme similar to Riverford Farms, based in Devon, which has a stake in the business.
Nene operate a franchise based on an internet website ordering system currently covering the Midlands with plans to expand further north.
“We have always recognised the need to become more diverse as the market changes,” he reiterates.
“In this business it is impossible to stand still. We have to keep learning new skills and coming up with new ideas to retain a sufficient level of profitability which in turn will make such investment possible.”
It echoes a similar distant cry from 60 years ago, but the concept is still holding good.
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