14 April 2003
United States
David and Peter Truitt knew their Salem cannery would never be the next Del Monte, so 25 years ago they took a chance on an emerging technology: cooked foods packed in flexible pouches and trays that don’t require refrigeration.
In the days before grocery shoppers bought tuna in foil pouches, the concept seemed strange. U.S. military forces, which only recently had adopted Meals Ready to Eat to feed troops in the field, were among the few to seize on the potential. Company accountants saw the Truitts’ “special products†as a financial black hole — the market wasn’t receptive, and packing items such as Chicken Mediterranean in microwavable trays was far more complex than putting green beans in metal cans.
“I just think we were just bull-headed,†said David Truitt, who co-owns the company with his brother Peter. The Truitts’ many years of pioneering special products has culminated in a new food-processing plant in West Salem that is running at full capacity and is hiring workers. It’s a rare example of prosperity in a local food-processing industry that has been dwindling for years.
Truitt Brothers spent about $6 million to turn a factory at 556 Murlark Ave., which once was used by defunct food processor Agripac, into its largest expansion in a dozen years. Foods packaged in foil or plastic pouches, such as chicken-and-vegetable dishes made for the Banquet brand that recently sailed down the production line, give the company an alternative to its traditional canning business.
For six years, Truitt Brothers hasn’t turned a profit on packing foods in metal cans. But sales of the company’s shelf-stable foods in pouches and trays — another form of “canning†— are taking off.
“We saw way back in the ’70s that the canning business was going to get tougher and tougher,†said Peter Truitt. The brothers made the right call about the fragile state of the industry. A slew of fruit and vegetable packers, here and across the nation, have gone belly-up. The Chiquita cannery in West Salem joined the procession of closed plants this year, a bad omen for food processing workers, as well as local farmers that grow crops for food processing plants.
Even though the Truitts’ special products are the money-makers these days, items packed in metal cans remain an important part of Truitt Brothers’ business. The Truitts said sales of their special products— packed in pouches and trays — can complement its foods in metal cans.
The strategy appears to be working. In the middle of Oregon’s recession, Truitt Brothers has hired about 100 temporary workers to staff its special products department. Company officials say those seasonal jobs, which pay from $6.90 to $15.50 per hour, stand a good chance of becoming permanent positions within a year.
That would mean a 40 percent increase in its workforce. If the company’s sales stay on track, it’s poised to create more permanent jobs than were lost when Chiquita left town.
John Henry Wells, a scientist with Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, said foods in metal cans have gotten a bad rap from some consumers who snub them as “bomb shelter food†lacking flavor. Items packed in pouches and trays might be able to shed that stigma, he said. “It’s still something that’s a bit unfamiliar to consumers,†Wells said.
The process has been around since the 1960s, but it wasn’t widely used until the 1990s. Material breakthroughs helped make pouches and trays a practical alternative to steel cans.
Another Oregon food processor, which Henry declined to name, is taking a serious look at adding a production line for foods packed in retortable pouches.
Starkist and Chicken of the Sea have led the way in introducing consumers to the concept with no-drain tuna packed in foil pouches.
“It’s sort of, ‘Voila, it’s a totally new product,’ and they love it,†said Bill Spain, a spokesman for Chicken of the Sea. Many consumers prefer the appearance and flavor of the pouched product over tuna in cans. Sales of Chicken of the Sea’s tuna in pouches grew 28 percent in the last quarter.
Truitt Brothers makes about 140 entrees packed in pouches and trays. The products range from institutional-sized, 6½-lb. pouches of fruit fillings, beef stews, and chilies to single-serving meals. Truitt Brothers even briefly packed an ostrich dish for a health-food distributor.
Besides the heat-and-serve convenience, the foods in pouches and trays have better flavors, colors and textures than foods in cans, according to the Truitts.
The reason? Less heating is required to cook and sterilize the foods than items packed in steel cans. “The more we cook, the more we degrade the product,†added David Truitt.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that sales of Truitt Brothers’ special products began to take off. The company’s big break came when Jenny Craig became a customer. Today, food packaged in shelf-stable pouches and trays represent about a third of its $65 million in annual sales.
The company is among a relatively small group of U.S. companies with expertise in the food processing technology. Preparing mass quantities of cooked food and sealing it in shelf-stable packages requires know-how and expensive equipment. If Truitt Brothers adds a little too much or too little of an ingredient, the product may be unsaleable.
“When things go wrong, it takes experience and bright guys,†David Truitt said.
A prospective competitor would have difficulty duplicating the company’s success, even if it spent the money to buy equipment, he said.
At its West Salem plant, Truitt Brothers is running two work shifts, six-and-a-half days per week. Upwards of 55,000 pouches of food are produced each day. The company also makes shelf-stable products at its older factory on 1105 Front St. NE, such as an order of Kosher meals that recently came off its food processing lines.
While it’s a small part of its business, Truitt Brothers has provided foods distributed to relief agencies and the military. Products from the Salem plants are feeding servicemen aboard U.S. Navy ship taking part in the war on Iraq. Another order went to feed captured al Qaida and Taliban fighters imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Foods packed in steel cans, such as mushrooms, organic pumpkin and green beans remain a core part Truitt Brothers business. David and Peter Truitt plan to keep it that way, using their success with special products to leverage sales of foods in cans. They figure the company can offer customers more options, whether it is foods in cans, pouches or trays.
Once again, the company pushes innovation, reaching out to new markets. For example, the company produces a canned chicken broth for a customer in Taiwan. The Truitts say they’re not sure why it’s cost effective for an overseas customer to buy chicken broth packed by an Oregon company, but they’re certainly not complaining about it.
Truitt Brothers also evaluates several potential new products weekly. Most never get out of the test kitchen, and sometimes reception to its innovative products is mixed. A calcium supplement for the Japan market, whose primary ingredient was salmon bones, wasn’t on the shelf for long.
“It’s just evidence that we’ll try almost anything,†David Truitt said.
