Mills Inc. Changes Name to Mills Family Farms       
New moniker better reflects company's business

By Brian Gaylord
The Produce News

SALINAS, CA — As of Jan. 1, Salinas, CA-based grower-shipper Mills Inc. changed its name to Mills Family Farms. The new name more accurately depicts the company’s business, according to brothers Dave Mills, vice president of sales and production, and Jim Mills, vice president of sales and marketing for the family-run business. The brothers are sons of founder Basil Mills.

Dave Mills said that although the name Mills Inc. is well known in the produce industry, with consumers there was a little disconnect.

"The new name lets the end-user know exactly what we are and what we do," Dave Mills said. "We thought we’d tie it all together. We’re proud of the family business and family home heritage."

Jim Mills said that the name Mills Inc. didn’t give the full profile of the company, which is a second-generation, family-owned, fully integrated grower-shipper that has expanded from its roots as a marketing company to include growing, packing, cooling and shipping produce. Today Mills Family Farms offers more than 20 commodities from Salinas, Huron, CA, Imperial Valley, CA, and Yuma, AZ.

"Family farms are perceived very well in the industry," Jim Mills said.

Basil Mills founded the company in 1958 as Mills Distributing Co., a single-employee cauliflower marketing operation. A few months into the launch, Basil’s brother Roger — now executive vice president — signed on as Basil’s first employee. In 1963, they became partners. In the early 1990s, the company changed its name to Mills Inc.

In addition to sons David and Jim working for the firm, Basil’s daughter, Sue, is office manager for Adobe Packing Co., and father-son team Joe and Jerry Esquivel are partners with the Mills family in the packing firm and Chieftain Harvesting Inc.

The company expected to start using a new whole-leaf carton for packaging its popular "Wholeaves®" brand for foodservice that displays the Mills Family Farms name the week of Jan. 12, Dave Mills said.
The company’s "Great Northern" label will be switched to the new name, but some customers will continue to use the "Great Northern" label, he said.

New retail bags soon will reflect the redesigned logo. A new item — a two-and-a-half-pound Green Cascade Mix® — will be the first one, said David Mills.

The company has a "Mills Bros." label that dates back to the 1960s. The label hasn’t been used for the past 15 years, but has been redesigned with the intention of bringing it back for certain commodities, David Mills said.

The company continues to pack the "Sassy" brand, which, along with "King O’ Hearts" and "Boss," are three of the older brands still in production.

With the name change, the company has launched a new web site: www.millsfamilyfarms.com, which provides contemporary information as well as historical information about the family-led company.

There’s even a light touch to the web site that plays off the family name. Dave Mills and Jim Mills represent the company together at trade shows, promoting the company’s whole-leaf program. Calling themselves the "Mills Bros.," there’s a "Mills Bros." page that lists their upcoming trade show appearances as if they were the former Mills Brothers musical act.

The company has launched a call-in line to handle customers’ questions. Customers can call a cellphone number — 831/320-0070 — and they’ll reach Dave Mills or Jim Mills directly, or be prompted to leave a message. The brothers promise that one of them will return the call within 24 hours, even if they’re "on tour."

01/14/2004