—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, October 7,1978
38
Vegetable variety
(Continued from Page 37)
Pennsylvania is also a large
mushroom producing area.
Bowman noted that
vegetables are all done
under contract with in
dividual farmers. “We give
the farmers „ all the
assistance we can. We need
their product when we
contract with them. If the
farmer doesn’t make money
then we’re not in good
shape.” Bowman says they
have inspectors in the field
for insects, fungus and mold.
“We try to make sure we get
a good product.”
Quality control begins in
the field and continues
through the whole
processing plant. Since the
quality of raw products may
vary, Bowman explains that
the quality will affect just
what kind of finished product
is processed. For instance,
certain spinach may not be
suitable for leaf spinach, but
it is perfectly acceptable to
be used for chopped spinach.
“We inspect and sort out
the bad quality. We have our
own quality control staff
which monitors the product
throughout the plant. The
great majority of our
product makes Fancy A
quality,” he spates.
Frank Suavely, president
of Consumers, adds,
“Quality control is a very
important part of our
operation.” Snavely is the
third generation of his
family in the busmens.
Federal inspection, of
course, plays a big part in
the operation of the plant.
During the processing
season there are delegated
state inspectors present, and
food and drug inspectors
also look over their products.
Bowman points out, “Our
products are completely
natural, with no additives.”
Labels for their products,
nevertheless, must be ap
proved by tiie appropriate
federal agency in
Washington.
Two thirds of Consumers’
products are sold through
institutional sales, with one
third being available in
retail outlets. Their label is
“Dutch Farms,” and they
process for other private
labels as well.
At the peak of the season,
Consumers has about 200
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people working for them.
Bowman noted,
“Everybody’s local."
Bowman points out that
their products are washed,
inspected, blanched, cooled
and frozen, in a process
“identical” to that of the
home freezer. The one dif
ference is that their products
are quick frozen in seven
minutes by machinery which
forces super cold air over the
processed food.
One large non-farm aspect
of the packing company is its
ice business. The company
was founded as “Consumers
Ice Company,” and through
the years it provided ice to
the community and to Penn
Central Railroad whose line
runs beside the buildings in
downtown Lancaster.
Snavely recalls that ice
was sold door to door with
men and teams of horses,
and fifty cents would buy a
300 pound block of ice. Of
course, one problem with
manufacturing ice is that it
is primarily a Summertime
business, so, as was the
custom with ice companies,
Consumers branched into
the coal business. This
provided their employees
with Winter work as well.
In 1938, the corporation
decided to go into the locker
business. In those early
years, the company would
process products for the
farmers and store it in the
lockers for them. In 1945, the
company went into
vegetable processing under
the guidance of C.L. Snavely
who is now chairman of the
board. Vegetables then
became its mainstay and the
use of locker plants slowed
down. The coal business was
dropped in 1945 as un
profitable.
The picture of the
processing plant changed
completely, and through the
years the company ex
perimented with freezing
broccoli, asparagus, carrots,
cauliflower, rhubarb, ap
ples, cranberries and, as
Snavely says, “A multitude
of items not practical.”
He added, “We just kept in
step with the changing
tunes. Now the vegetable
business has outgrown the
ice business.
Nevertheless, if you
Rl, LEBANON, PA. 17042
PHONE: 717-866-4906 or 866-4555
purchase ice at a vending
machine or retail store,
chances are it was supplied
by Consumers. They sell
nearly 14 million pounds per
year.
There is an additional
branch of the company
which is marketing items
which are current to the
times, and that is Eastern
Freeze Dried Corporation.
Eastern got underway in
1965, when there was no
other freeze dried operation
in the east. They now market
chives, mushrooms, chicken
meat and pharmaceutical
supplies. Bowman said, “We
package mainly for in
dustrial people who use it for
ingredients. It would appear
that it is a growing
business.” Some foods are
processed for the back
packing crowd, but as
Snavely puts it, “It is a very
expensive operation.”
There is no question that
Consumers Packing Com
pany is a growing and in
tegral part of the
agricultural community. As
Bowman says, “We are
definitely growing. Our
product lines have expanded
and we have more
vegetables than ever before.
We process 12% million
pounds annually. We are
now improving equipment to
mcrease the number of
pounds processed daily. We
would like to continue to
grow but we’d like to grow
gradually.”
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Quality control is an important part of the processing at Consumers. Ruth
Lawrence, on the left, checks the packages as they come through the conveyor
and Quality Control Supervisor Bertha Nitroy makes a random check.
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