Case Study: Working Through the Tomato Crush
Tomatoes
and plywood converge in a small California town where
Johnston’s Trading uses Timber Products plywood to build
300-gallon tomato paste bins.
Summer is no time for vacation at Johnston’s Trading Inc. in Woodland, Calif. While others are recreating and enjoying the leisurely life, the company is smack in the middle of a 90-day crunch to produce most of it s 300-gallon wooden tomato paste bins that are sold all over the world.
“Between July 4 and October we are in high gear manufacturing the bins,” said Andy Bowers, the company’s purchasing manager. “Our schedule is seasonal with the tomato crop harvest, so we have an intense time frame when we are doing a tremendous amount of plywood cutting to produce our product.”
That product is a 4-foot by 4-foot plywood bin that holds tomato paste for some of the largest food brands in the world. To secure the plywood panels needed to make its signature product, Johnston’s Trading has worked with Timber Products Company for the past 10 years, and credits a collaborative effort for much of its success.
“Our relationship with Timber Products has been great,” said Bowers. “The sales team understands our seasonal demands and works with us in advance planning our production. Last year we used more than 250,000 panels during our production season, so it’s a lot of work in a short amount of time. Plus, Timber Products always gets the order right.”
The planning process for the 1 1/8-inch Timber Product s plywood is nearly a year-round venture. Plans are laid in the first quarter of the year, when Bowers studies his customer’s needs and expected purchasing volume. Then, deliveries star t to roll in just in time for the manufacturing rush. Since Johnston’s bins can last six to 10 years on average, Bowers needs to be on top of his game to evaluate the market and secure just the right amount of plywood.
“We are not affected by how many tomatoes are harvested, but rather by attrition and how many bins our customers reuse from year to year,” said Bowers. “The best course of action is to get out in the field and see how many bins are returned from the previous season, and what the customers expect to fill. Then we meet with our Timber Products sales team and prepare for the three-month scramble.”
Johnston’s Trading was founded in 1979 by Jim Johnston and started out as a lumber and pallet stock provider to California’s agricultural community. Shortly after, American Home Foods approached the company and asked for 2,500 bins to store tomato concentrate, which launched the company full-time into the bin business.
Today, the company sells its premium containers, which feature nine ply sides, to customers all over the globe. The dominant share of bins stays in California, where 10-12 million tons of tomatoes from the state are turned into paste every year.
“The bins feature a rare plywood panel dimension, but we need that extra strength for the extreme pressure the bin is subjected to while being filled with tomato paste,” said Bowers. “There’s an aseptic bag inside that expands the bin during the process, so the bins need to stand up to that fill.”
During the off-season, Johnston’s works with fruit puree customers in Central America, South America and China, but all the while keeps an eye on preparing for next year’s tomato dash.
