In 1991, Craig Stauffer and Guy Kisling founded Vanguard International with the explicit goal of becoming the link between growers and customers around the world. Growing up on a family farm in Bingen in Washington state, Stauffer has been involved in the produce industry since he was seven years old.
“I started with harvesting green beans and spent many summers working with harvest crews as well as in the packing house,” Vanguard’s CEO Craig Stauffer said. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he took on several positions in Oregon and California where he worked on the Portland wholesale market, built international businesses and became the president of Food Products International. However, his home state remained close to his heart, and moved back to the Pacific Northwest, about 1,500 kilometers north of California.
This is where Stauffer and Kisling started their own adventure on January 2, 1991. “Our goal was to work with suppliers and customers around the world, providing them with timely and accurate information and the best quality produce possible. We wanted to build a strong business out of California, Washington, and Florida with supply of citrus, apples, pears, grapes, stone fruit, and melons.” This goal was accomplished much faster than planned and from working with a grower base in the United States, the company started expanding and representing growers in other parts of the world.
Broadening scope outside the US
It was 1994 when Dirk Winkelmann, then President at Chiquita Frupac, joined the team. “Dirk had a large network outside the US and for a period of five years, we were on the road two to three weeks out of every month,” said Stauffer. During that time, an office was opened in Santiago, Chile as well as Stellenbosch, South Africa. “Before 1995, 100 percent of the fruit produced in South Africa was sold through a single desk, being Outspan at the time. We presented ourselves as the other marketing option and did the same thing in New Zealand.”
In 2000, Vanguard started representing growers in Peru. After that, offices were opened in Spain, Italy, Australia, Egypt, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan, all of which Vanguard still owns today. With the expansion also came an enlargement of the product offering that now also includes berries, mangos, avocados, and pineapples. In addition, vegetables like ginger, garlic, lettuce, and onions are part of the portfolio.
Acquired by private equity firm
In 2015, when Vanguard’s annual sales were about $150 million, Stauffer and Kisling sold the company to private equity firm Blue Road Capital. “They understood us and provided us with capital and expertise to acquire production assets. Their investment enabled us to develop into a global vertically integrated organization and they certainly got us to where we are today,” Stauffer shared.
The road to vertical integration started in 2016 when Agricola Challapampa was acquired in Ica, Peru. Five hundred hectares of desert were turned into table grape vines in one of the prime growing regions in Peru. “Since then, we acquired additional acreage, built a packing house and today, we are growing over 2,500 acres (1,000 ha.) of premium table grape varieties, complementing our marketing and sales capabilities. Under leadership of Manuel Yzaga, Vanguard Peru’s CEO, we have built a team that is world class. Being vertically integrated through Vanguard Peru has really helped our total global business.”
All products available year-round
Having a presence in so many countries around the globe provides a competitive advantage for certain origins. “Let’s take table grapes as an example. If the season in India has a late start, a country like Indonesia relies on supplies from the southern hemisphere. From grape growing countries Chile and South Africa, it’s a 45-day journey while it takes grapes from Australia about 7-10 days to make it to Indonesia. Being located in strategic countries around the world has helped us remove some of these physical barriers.”
These locations were also chosen to ensure the products that are offered together with growers and logistics providers arrive in optimum condition at the retailer 52 weeks out of the year. “It’s our goal to have year-round availability for all products that our customers need. We want to offer them supply security, and we promise they have fruit when they need it.”
How did Vanguard grow into the company it is today?
“It took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and very long hours,” commented Stauffer. “However, first and foremost, we couldn’t have done it without a great team of like-minded people. From our grower base to our trading partners and our staff in the field as well as the office.” Most people have been with the company for 20 years or more and they are passionate people who realize they are part of a 24/7 business.
“From the beginning, we focused on delivering best in class supply, but also established a back office that focused on developing robust systems and procedures. “We worked hard to nurture and strengthen deep relationships with our growers, customers, truckers, ocean carriers, and all the other partners necessary to build a sustain a successful business. That’s why our tagline today is PRODUCE. PRECISELY. “The journey from the field to produce sections around the world is seamless in the hands of growers, distributors, and wholesalers who share a common commitment to provide our customers with timely delivery of precisely the produce they want to serve their customers.”
What will 2023 bring?
“I believe that 2023 is going to be a very challenging year. In fact, it may become the most challenging year in recent history,” mentioned Stauffer. “From a consumer perspective, global inflation forces consumers to watch where and how they spend their money. They will be focused on managing their pocketbooks, trying to limit their expenses.” At the same time, production costs continue to increase and growers as well as packers, shippers and marketing companies will have to pass on increased costs to the consumer in order to survive. “This could be very challenging given the current inflation levels, which I expect to last until the end of 2024.”
For more information:
Vanguard International
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