Lakeside Produce Distribution Inc., a national distributor of fresh produce to the salad manufacturing industry, has experienced remarkable growth in its short five-year history. President and CEO Terrence Granzier started the company in the winter of 2002 and, today, he's targeting $6 million in sales this year. That's a lot of growth for a company with just four full-time employees.
Fresh fruits and vegetables have been a staple in Granzier's life since he was 16 years old. After graduating from The Ohio State University with a business communications degree, he found his way back to Northeast Ohio, where he worked for a salad produce distributor from 1997 until 2001.
"As time went by, we had different philosophies about where the company should go and I felt it was in our best interest if I left to do my own thing," Granzier says.
Today, the Westlake-based company contracts about 1,600 acres of farmland across seven different states and, last year, it celebrated a 1,500 percent growth rate.
Granzier attribute's Lakeside's incredible growth to its strong relationships with partner-growers. "You're on the phone all day long; we meet them in person and train them on food safety aspects. The farmers care that you do what you say you are going to do. They put their faith in you to move that product."
Lakeside works with the goal of exceeding customers' expectations all the way down the line. "We ship all our product and handle it from Point A to Point B. We have to do everything correct along the line to grow and ship a superior product," says Granzier.
But the biggest challenge, aside from some tough market competition, is something beyond Granzier's control. "Try managing the weather and Mother Nature," he laughs. "We try to diversify where our growing areas are in case there is a natural disaster in one, we can fall back on other areas."
This year has been especially trying — with a drought so severe it stretched from Florida through Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Ohio. "Right now we've had too much rain the last few months in Michigan, which hurt our crop there. Normally we'd rely on our New York fields, but there was a drought there as well," he says.
There have also been a few E. coli scares in the industry, but Granzier has an online software program, ProTrace, which significantly separates Lakeside from its competition.
"I came up with ProTrace in 2002. Our contract customers can log onto a secure Web site and retrieve all pertinent information pertaining to their delivery, including specific field number. It helps with food safety issues," Granzier explains.
For 2008, Granzier plans to add more employees and is targeting 17 to 20 percent growth in contracted acreage. "We've already had commitments, but it's just a matter of not wanting to grow too fast and lose sight of what got us to where we are now."