The Opportunity
Help this leading produce company secure business-building promotional placement for sweet onions during peak seasonal demand.
The Solution
Collaborate with CHEP to incorporate CarbonNeutral® pooled half pallets into the supply chain, meeting a major retailer’s expectations for display and sustainability.
Back in 1945, Walter L. Dasher started a small family farming operation in Tattnall County, Ga. Today, G&R Farms covers nearly 5,000 acres in southeast Georgia and produces a variety of crops – most notably, Vidalia® sweet onions. With some 900 acres devoted to Vidalias, G&R Farms harvests between four and five million pounds of the popular produce annually.
In 2020, as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, G&R Farms is well-known and respected as the sweet onion leader in Georgia and beyond. The family farm is also known for its commitment to excellence, quality and safety, and for successful collaboration with partners throughout the supply chain.
“Our biggest retailer came to us with a need that could have been a challenge,” says Walt Dasher, Co-Owner, G&R Farms. “To build business during the peak season for Vidalias, they wanted us to ship the onions on half pallets. We had to find the right half pallet quickly, and it had to work with our systems.”
Walt Dasher Co-Owner, G&R FarmsOur commitment to excellence is a deep-rooted family tradition. The CHEP half pallet has proven to be an excellent, sustainable option that boosts peak season sales.
G&R Farms turned to long-time partner CHEP for the solution. CHEP’s consistent and durable 40x24-inch CarbonNeutral® pooled (shared and reusable) half pallet fit the G&R Farms operations, the retailer’s requirement and the produce section footprint. While the CHEP “share and reuse” business model is inherently sustainable, CHEP takes the next step and achieves net zero carbon emissions for the half pallet by supporting the Mississippi Valley Reforestation Project. Learn more.
CHEP’s half pallet program for G&R Farms started in the Atlanta, Ga., market and has since expanded to all the major retailer’s marketing areas and all of their retail brand divisions nationwide. In addition to delivering sustainability results, the CHEP half pallets increase the exposure of G&R Farms’ onions during peak buying seasons. The farm used a ready-to-display merchandising unit to ensure prime retail placement for ample product inventory. Placement drove an increase in sales, and – as a bonus – the durability of the CHEP half pallets has led to a reduction in unsaleables.
“We work hard to maximize efficiency while ensuring quality control and food safety,” says Dasher. “We are a year-round supplier of sweet onions, so when Vidalias are not in season, we are shipping Peruvian and Mexican onions. Throughout the year, the CHEP CarbonNeutral® half pallet enables us to meet the expectations of retailers, get our sweet onions to consumers and continue to grow our business.
“G&R Farms is dedicated to providing sweet onions that are second to none, and we expect our partners to provide the same top-quality products and services. With this half pallet, CHEP really comes through.”
In a 9-year period, G&R Farms achieved significant environmental savings by using 137,949 CHEP pooled 48x40-inch block pallets.
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