Article: Merge, Grow, Compete: New maxim of supermarket chains dictates that fruit packing houses follow suit

Bigger is better.

At least that's the view at some Central Washington fruit packing warehouses trying to adjust to a changing times. As a waves of mergers and consolidations roll through the supermarket industry, the survivors can exert increasing pressure on suppliers, including packing houses.

Fruit packing houses that once shipped a few months out of the year are being asked to provide supplies year-long.

The demand is for higher volume and greater variety. And small packing houses have trouble keeping up.

The answer, for some, is merger - bringing together two or more smaller fruit suppliers into a single, larger, more competitive operation.

The latest to do so locally is Inland Joseph ...

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