Produce Priorities           
Salinas Valley company focuses on innovation in growing and marketing products for the food service industry.
"California Farmer" October 2002.

Innovation and quality are nothing new in the produce business in the Salinas Valley. They can be traced back to the days when head lettuce was packed in ice and sent by rail to the East Coast. Consumers marveled at the strange new "iceberg lettuce," fascinated with the West Coast delicacy, and the densely populated area quickly became a lucrative market for the produce industry of the Salinas Valley. Today, innovation and quality are not only expected of the industry, they are prerequisites for survival and sustained profitability.

Mills Family Farms was founded on these concepts 44 years ago, and they continue to direct the company’s venture into the future. Today, Mills Family Farms, headquartered in Salinas, is a privately owned conglomerate of vertically integrated businesses integral to the production, marketing and distribution of fresh produce. It’s a business model that has evolved over the years in response to growing competition and market demands. In addition to Mills Family Farms at the core of the operation, other business groups under the corporate umbrella include a farm labor contracting business for harvesting, a farming operation, cooling and loading docks and several other separate entities that fulfill various functions for Mills.

"My father, Basil Mills, founded the company in 1958 to market Cel-a-Pak’s Sassy brand cauliflower," says Jim Mills, senior vice president. "I don’t know that he envisioned back then that it would become as diverse as it is today, but it’s evolved into this as a result of the way we’ve chosen to respond to the demands of the industry and the pressures of the marketplace."

Mills Family Farms is a three-generation family business. Jim’s brother Dave is vice president of sales and production. Basil continues as president, their uncle Roger Mills serves as executive vice president. Vice President/General manager Ed Little rounds out the management team. One of Jim and Dave’s six sons, Casey, works in the field helping to oversee the whole leaf harvest.

The latest evolution at Mills Family Farms began about 15 years ago when processed bag salads first emerged on the marketing scene. "We decided that we were not going to get into that business and go head-to-head with the big boys like Dole, which were servicing the retail customer," Jim Mills says. "We decided we were going to focus our energy and resources at satisfying the demands of the food service industry. That was a pivotal decision as it turned out."

NEW PRODUCT
About seven years later, a local innovator came to Mills with the idea of marketing lettuce leaves that had been hand torn from the plant instead of cut with a knife. Jake Hougham had been playing with the idea because he believed it would greatly extend shelf life as compared to a leaf that was cut. As it turned out, he was right and a simple idea evolved into a unique new product.

"We particularly liked the idea because it was right in between fully processed bagged salads and whole head lettuce," Dave Mills says. "It also looked like a perfect product for the food service market that we were already targeting."

Hougham secured a patent for the process, and Mills began gearing up to produce the product under a licensing agreement. The final product is a whole leaf torn from the core, washed and sanitized and packed with similar size leaves in 5- and 10-pound cartons.

Mills trademarked the name "Wholeaves®," set up a packing line with the help of Hougham and began pedaling the product to the food service industry. Today, Mills sells approximately 50,000 cartons of Great Northern Wholeaves® lettuce every week.

Mills Family Farms Wholeaves® products are available in romaine crowns and hearts, green leaf and red leaf crowns, green cascade mix®, and celery. In the winter months, they move the packing operation to the Yuma/Imperial Valley district along with their growing operation so that they can provide customers with a year-round supply.

Wholeaves® was born out of innovation, while quality and consistency have ensured its continued success. "We’ve found that once you introduce a food service manager to the concept and they try it, they’re usually hooked," Jim Mills says. "Consistent top quality, washed-and-ready-to-use convenience and a stable price program make Wholeaves® a true value-added product."

At Aw Shucks, a trendy oyster bar in downtown Carmel, owner Nancy Holm says Wholeaves® lettuce has made her life a lot easier. "We don’t have to worry about washing it," she says. "We don’t have to worry about trimming it or getting rid of the waste. But most importantly, we don’t have to worry about the quality or what it’s going to look or taste like. It’s always as close to perfect as you can get. When you consider all those advantages and then add the superior shelf life to it, I don’t see how anyone in the food service industry can afford not to use the product."

The shelf life of Wholeaves® is nothing short of amazing. Although Mills doesn’t advertise an exact figure, they will say that it’s at least three weeks if stored and refrigerated properly.

"By tearing the leaf from the core instead of cutting it, we’re not disturbing vital cell tissue," Jim Mills says. "That slows down dehydration and shock and naturally preserves the vitality of the leaf, resulting in greater freshness and natural flavor."

As with all produce, quality and consistency begin in the field. Mills’ own growing operation, Boss Farms, grows much of the lettuce for the Wholeaves® product line. Greg Lazzerini heads up the growing operation.

"One of the most significant changes we’ve made to improve quality is put our entire production under drip irrigation," he says. "That’s somewhat unusual for lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley, but we’ve found that it offers some tremendous advantages."

One of those advantages is consistency. Some of the land that Lazzerini farms is rolling terrain. It’s difficult to produce anything very consistent under those circumstances, but drip irrigation has helped accomplish that goal.

"We worked with Toro to help develop a drip tape that would deliver water consistently from the top of the hill to the bottom," Lazzerini says. "In the old days, you couldn’t do that, but they came up with a tape that does exactly that. It’s worked extremely well in this situation. Sprinkler irrigation on these hills would eat up three times as much water and create problems with compaction as well."

DRIP ADVANTAGES
Although the investment in drip irrigation requires a more substantial investment up front than sprinkler irrigation, Lazzerini believes the payout over several years is worth it. "We’re getting less disease. We’re using less water, and we’re using smaller amounts of fertilizer. Over time, that adds up."

The ability to cut nitrogen helps in several aspects. From a quality standpoint, shelf life is enhanced as nitrogen is decreased. The incidence of disease pressure is also often reduced under a low-nitrogen system. However, one of the most important advantages is simply the reduced level of nitrates introduced into the environment and potentially the groundwater.

"That’s an issue that’s going to hit the industry hard in the next few years," Lazzerini predicts. "People who are closing their eyes to it are in for a rude awakening."

Lazzerini keeps a close watch on every input that goes into the crop, whether it’s nutrients, water or crop protection materials. If adjustments are needed, he can respond quickly. Even small problems with the end product sitting in a restaurant cooler somewhere in New York can be traced all the way back to the grower, to the individual field, the specific harvesting crew and any other number of variables that might have influenced the product.

"Every carton that we send out can be identified and traced back through a bar code or recall sticker on the box," Jim says. "That’s not unique to Mills. That’s where the entire industry is moving in an effort to ensure food safety. Our harvesting crews are audited by an independent contractor on a regular basis to make sure all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed. It’s absolutely critical in today’s environment."

One of the unique growing advantages in the Wholeaves® operation is a shorter growing cycle. Mills typically harvests five to seven days earlier than a traditional carton product. Because Wholeaves® are packaged as individual leaves, there is no need to develop the outer wrapper leaves that are desirable in whole head production or wait to achieve a targeted weight.

"From a growing standpoint, that means less water and fewer inputs such as pesticides," Lazzerini says. "There are a lot of problems that can hit a crop of lettuce in the last week before harvest."

From growing to distribution, Wholeaves® products are carefully monitored, even coddled, to near perfection. The attention has paid off in the form of major contracts with national chains and a growing reputation among prestigious food service outlets. Mills Family Farms now supplies Wholeaves® nationwide to Arby’s for use in their new "Market Fresh" sandwich line.

"When Arby’s first came up with the idea of doing a deli sandwich, they wanted them to look the same all across the country," Jim Mills says. "They had been using regional suppliers for their lettuce and it just didn’t give them the consistent look and quality they wanted. We were able to offer them that as well as the shelf life necessary for their national distribution system. It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship."

In addition to national chains and broad line food service distributors such as Sysco, Mills has developed a number of unique promotional opportunities to promote the product. Local celebrity chef John Pisto is sold on the product and even hosted Mills on his televised cooking program twice to showcase Wholeaves® lettuce.

"It’s not only a fun product, it’s one that’s given our company bottom-line stability," Mills says. "Because we offer this product at a consistent price year-round, we’re able to smooth out some of the highs and lows that are inherent in this business. Even though Wholeaves® only represents about 25% of our business at this point, it’s a key player in our overall program. More importantly, we feel like we’re offering a product that fills an important niche in the market. There are a few other companies that are licensed to produce whole leaf lettuce, but this is our baby. This is what we’re really proud of."

Apparently it shows. In December of last year, in a blind taste test the American Tasting Institute judged Great Northern Wholeaves® "superior in taste, appearance, freshness and overall impression." The Institute awarded Mills with its Gold Medal Taste award in the Foodservice Whole Leaf Lettuce Category for romaine crowns, romaine hearts, green leaf crowns and red leaf crowns.

Jim and Dave Mills were on hand to receive the award at a ceremony held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. To say the product is garnering attention is almost an understatement.

Brenda Carol is an agricultural writer living in Carmel.