Consolidated Farms dba Crystal Valley Foods is a Florida corporation founded in 1994 for the purpose of importing and distributing specialty vegetable products, initially sourced primarily from Peru and Guatemala.
The company was founded by Jay Rodriguez and has enjoyed significant growth over the company’s 19 year history, with expansion of the core product … fresh asparagus … strong growth of the French bean, snow pea, and baby vegetable categories, and the addition of select new specialty products.
There has been a strong commitment to solidifying the production base via investment in farmland in Peru, investment in facilities in Guatemala, and expansion to production areas such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic via long-term strategic alliances.
Crystal Valley Foods is currently the 4th largest US importer of Peruvian asparagus and the 2nd largest importer of French beans, snow peas & sugar snaps from Guatemala. New specialty vegetable focus includes greenhouse specialty products, such as baby heirloom mixed tomatoes and colored bell peppers.
Peruvian asparagus (green & white) is imported 52 weeks a year, and is supplemented by Mexican asparagus during the peak production windows in Sinaloa, Baja California, and Irapuato.
Crystal Valley’s market niche has historically been the regional specialty foodservice distributor, in addition to select retail programs – including private label packing of both foodservice and retail presentations.
2). WEST COAST OPERATIONS
In October, 2012, Crystal Valley Foods opened a West Coast distribution facility, Crystal Valley West, Inc., located at 1601 E. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90021. This facility is located on the Los Angeles Wholesale Terminal Market property, and occupies units 511,512,513. The expansion to the West Coast was driven by immediate customer requirements as well as long-term strategic positioning of Crystal Valley. The West Coast facility enables Crystal Valley …
- to load out of LA in order to service existing West Coast customers.
- to service the growing West Coast foodservice and retail demand for specialty products.
- to establish key Mexican grower contacts as well as California specialty sources.
Crystal Valley historically has marketed 1.5 million boxes of fresh asparagus annually, which has been at least 95% Peruvian production. With the addition of the Crystal Valley West and new Mexican programs,
total asparagus volume will approach 2.0 million boxes (11 pound) annually, with an estimated 20% Mexican production.