With its combined
efforts exceeding $11 million annually, Domex Inc. of Yakima, Wash.,
is one of the largest marketing companies in the Pacific Northwest,
assuring that the region's apples, pears and cherries are shipped
to the four corners of the earth.
Ed Kershaw, president of Domex Inc. formerly known as Domex Marketing,
and his brother, Bob, graduated from college in the early 1960s and
decided to go into business together.
Bob is president of Kershaw Companies, an umbrella corporation that
includes several companies involved in global fruit commerce. Ed Kershaw's
nephew, Robert, is Domex's marketing director.
"As shippers and marketers, our No. 1 commodity would be apples,
then cherries, then pears. Pears and cherries are about the same,"
Ed said.
The Kershaw brothers' business is a fifth-generation farming enterprise
that started in 1878 in the Yakima Valley. Their family was among
the first pioneers in the agriculturally productive area, initially
starting with cattle ranching.
The business evolved into potatoes and corn, but with the advent of
the railroad, commercial opportunities arose. The family ventured
into tree fruit farming in the early 1900s.
Domex was started as a company in 1981, originating as a marketing
company for the products the Kershaws grew and packed themselves.
About 35 employees work there, including many staffing phone stations
at Domex's office near Selah, Wash., where they make contact with
customers throughout the world.
Domex represents eight shippers in Washington State whose combined
acreage exceeds 15,000. Most are family operations; two are co-ops.
Kershaw Companies consists of growing, warehousing, packaging and
storage operations.
Ninety-eight percent of the apples, cherries and pears are shipped
in trucks controlled by retailers.
"Domex is definitely a global company. We export to more than
40 countries," Ed said. "The reality is today that everybody
is a regional player in the world. It's a global industry…The
larger companies are playing in more than one region...It's a global
customer base, and it's a global sourcing base for the product."
Domex also imports fruit from New Zealand, Chile and South Africa
in the Southern Hemisphere, requiring Kershaw to travel extensively.
He returned in October from an annual visit to Chile, where he imports
apples and cherries.
"We import the same thing we grow domestically," Ed said.
"It's simply a matter of exchanging a product."
Chile is a great growing region for many commodities also grown in
the United States, he said. Its apple-growing conditions are similar
to those in the Yakima Valley.
"We bring them in because the U.S. is the greatest market place
in the world. Because they are contra seasonal, they do not compete
with products of our own," Kershaw said. "The imports that
are contra seasonal are a huge benefit to the domestic producer because
it keeps retail shelf space for the commodities we grow year round.
It also keeps the consumer continually enjoying the eating experience
that they offer year round."
If Domex didn't have its products in produce bins and on shelves,
somebody else's product would be there, Kershaw said.
"That's what we do not want. We want our product there year-round.
So it very much complements the customer service required today for
the retail customer."
Kershaw also keeps in constant contact with Domex's domestic customers.
Diversifying geographic locations helps reduce crop damage from frost
and hail, Ed said. The national and Washington apple crops were reduced
this past growing season, with Washington's output down by about 15
percent.
"We just didn't have a very big bloom. The apples were never
there. That has serviced us well in that we're getting more value
for the product we're growing this year," Ed said. "Hopefully,
that increased value will make up for the decrease in volume."
The volume for cherries and pears this past year was good.
"We had good success with pears marketing this year and a wonderful
cherry season – good quality and big volume. Prices were fine,"
he said.
Mexico is Washington's largest customer for apples and pears. Japan
is the state's biggest consumer of cherries, but it doesn't import
apples and pears. Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the European continent
also like cherries. Pears are exported to the United Kingdom, Europe,
the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
"As with everyone who is involved in an enterprise, you will
exceed your expectations because there's always a new, new thing that
will enable that to occur if you're committed and have a passion for
the industry and surround yourself with good people," Ed said.
To be a global player, participants must "be a student of every
other region of the world" and form alliances and personal relationships,
Ed said. "That's what it involves. You can't do it by sitting
behind your desk in Yakima, Washington."
Logistical challenges are intensifying for companies as fruit is imported
from different regions of the world during the winter to ensure year-round
supplies in American grocery stores. That's also driving consolidations
in the industry.
"There are a whole lot of issues on the table now that involve
consolidation. It's particularly heightened at this time. The industry
is changing. Many are going out of business. The people staying in
business are consolidating," Ed said.
Dramatic changes have occurred the past four years, he said. March
24 will mark the 40th anniversary of the business he and his brother
started.
"In my opinion, this is the most exciting time of the industry
right now," Ed said. "What it will look like when we grow
up, I don't know, but it will be different than what it is now."
Consumer preference and consolidations will be the two dominant trends
to change the industry's course, he said.
Kershaw said that sliced fruit offerings will become a retail norm.
"I think health and nutrition will play a more important role
as we go forward in promotion of the product as well as provide a
greater eating experience,” he said.
Kershaw Companies continues to expand, and Domex must increase its
market share.
Consolidations provide more efficient use of facilities, incorporate
personnel and their talents, boost customers, increase global reach,
enhance customer service capabilities, add packaging equipment, expand
locations, increase commodities and varieties and enable greater food
safety and security, Ed said.
"I'm the eternal optimist. We're getting bigger by getting better,"
he said. "The industry is evolving into a much more consumer-driven
focus. Because of that, and because the products we grow are user-friendly,
safe and healthy, I think our industry has a terrific opportunity
and future."
