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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, November 9, 2007: At first glance, the antique stone seed jars on display in Caudill Seed Company's conference room suggest that the Louisville firm's focus, as its name indicates, is all about the business of seeds.
But on the other side of West Main Street a second Caudill facility houses Whole Alternatives, an organic food products company that is the firm's fastest growing division.
"We're a lot more than a seed company," says CEO Dan Caudill.
And it's that record of diversity and growth, plus its ability to adapt to changing market trends, that has earned for Caudill Seed the designation as 2007 Louisville area Agribusiness of the Year.
The award, given by Greater Louisville Inc., was presented to Del Thacker, chief operations officer of Whole Alternatives, at the Nov. 9 Farm-City Luncheon, held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
Caudill Seed was established in Shelbyville in 1947 by Dan's father Forrest Caudill, who moved the business to a Story Avenue location in Louisville in 1959.
In 1990, Dan and his brother Pat took over operation of the company from their father and in 1998 Caudill moved to its current location on West Main Street, between 14th and 15th streets.
The ensuing years have seen Caudill Seed expand its core business in the agricultural seed and sprouting seed divisions, and diversify into the organic food and health supplement industry, where sales are growing at a rapid rate.
Dan Caudill said his father taught him the value of branching out into new enterprise areas at an early age.
"Dad started out combining grass seed on farms and military bases around the state and selling to farmers in the local area," Dan Caudill said. "But soon he began wholesaling seeds, purchasing seeds from farms in the Western U.S., and expanding with such products as baler twine."
After the sons took control of the firm, they found another niche by buying and selling bean and alfalfa seeds to the sprouting industry, which provides salad-style sprouts for processing and restaurant use.
From that, the Caudills started fabricating the sprouting equipment, including rotary drums that were reconfigured to hold the seeds in an ultra-moist environment that produces the sprouts.
When a market began to develop for "chemical-free" foods, the brothers seized on another commercial opportunity. Now Caudill's Whole Alternatives is the nation's largest manufacturer of certified organic popcorn, moving more than 1.6 million pounds a year.
And the organic product mix at the huge warehouse reflects the global reach of the firm. Operations manager Todd Compton pointed to a pallet of organic products ready for shipment that included roasted cashews, Turkish apricots, pineapple dices and papaya chunks.
Compton said one of the challenges of processing and marketing organic food products is the difficulty of pest control in a chemical-free environment, even on the warehouse and packing house floor.
To ensure that no insects stray into the food containers, the staff utilizes two sealed carbon dioxide chambers where the packages are placed, then the oxygen withdrawn from the chamber and replaced with CO2.
"We're one of the only organic processors in the country that has the capability of CO2 treatment of both raw materials and finished product," Compton said. "We're very conscious of ensuring no insect contamination of our food."
Caudill's growth and product diversification have gone hand in hand with their facilities expansion around the nation and the world. In addition to the 400,000 square feet of space in Louisville, the firm has branch facilities in Morehead and Allen, Ky., a seed processing plant in Granite, Oklahoma, and warehouses and satellite offices in Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, California, China, British Columbia and Ontario.
Caudill's work force combines management personnel from a variety of agribusinesses and food companies, reflecting the rapid growth of the firm in recent years.
The company also employs a number of "second-chance" workers in its Louisville warehouses, including residents and graduates of such rehab and treatment programs as The Talbot House, The Healing Place, Dismas and Volunteers of America.
"We do experience a lot of turnover because of those hires, but it's part of Caudill's mission that we are committed to giving those folks a second chance," Compton said.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT TERRI BRADSHAW
Office 502-495-5191
Cellular 502-718-1164 |
