Coastline Family Farms and Muzzi Family Farms have formed C&M Family Cooling LLC., a new joint venture that will own and operate a produce cooler and shipping facility in Castroville, CA.
“We are delighted to consolidate cooling and shipping operations for Coastline Family Farms and Muzzi Family Farms at the cooler in Castroville,” said Larry Cox, the chief executive officer and grower/owner of Coastline. Coastline has been a partner-owner of the facility since 2010 along with American Cooling of Salinas, the former operating partner.
“Muzzi started shipping from the Castroville cooler in April 2018, as the year progressed the two family-owned companies started to see synergies and cross-selling opportunities. Having a vertically integrated cooling and shipping operation from the Field Forward gives our companies greater control of the quality and condition of our products and a higher level of customer service,” said Cox.
“Our companies have compatible product lines with very little overlap and we quickly determined that we could offer our customers a broad lineup of products at a single location; thereby, reducing the number of stops trucks would need to make in the Salinas region,” said Dominic Muzzi, managing partner of Muzzi Family Farms. The fully integrated facility has a complete line of cooling systems, including vacuum, hydro, forced air, and ice injection; 14 loading docks; receiving and holding rooms for dry and wet vegetables; a roof mounted solar system; and an onsite truck scale.
“Muzzi Family Farms operates Fresh Leafy Greens processing facilities in Yuma, Arizona, and Moss Landing, California, but needed a larger shipping location close to our Moss Landing processing facility.” added Muzzi. “When Larry and I started to discuss this joint venture opportunity we saw that our family-owned-and-operated companies had a lot of similarities and would be very compatible running this cooler together.”
C&M Family Cooling day-to-day operations will be led by General Manager Ron Burnett, a 40-year cooling facility veteran, previously with Central Coast Cooling. “This is an exciting opportunity to operate a cooler that is vertically integrated with the two, quality oriented owners,” said Burnett. “Our staff is keenly aware that we are a critical component in ensuring the quality and condition of our products. Located near Highway 1 and Highway 101 in Castroville, California, with 14 loading bays and an onsite truck scale we strive to make this a desirable and convenient location for truckers and our clients.”
https://theproducenews.com/coastline-muzzi-form-new-joint-venture