Some changes in store at area's Simplot facilities

Quincy plant receives award as sale to NORPAC nears end

It's too soon to tell how the closure of its Hermiston plant will affect plants in Moses Lake and Othello, but things are still a-brewin' at Simplot.

"We haven't fully determined how the allocation of the Hermiston production is going to be distributed at this point," said Fred Zerza, vice president of public relations with the J.R. Simplot Company.

Zerza said that a determination of how the allocation will go has to be made before the Hermiston plant closes in November, but Simplot still has a few months to make those decisions.

But the company is making another move, forming an alliance with Idaho Fresh Pak of Lewisville, Idaho, to make Simplot the sole food service marketer and distributor of Idahoan brand dehydrated potato products.

In a related agreement, Simplot will complete the acquisition of Nestle's dehydrated potato granule business on June 30. Granules will initially become part of the Simplot food service portfolio under a license of the Trio brand, receiving new Simplot branding within a year.

"It puts us back into the dehydrated potato business," Zerza said.

He said that Simplot hasn't been in that business for about 40 years, when the company's interest dwindled with the development of frozen french fries, which will still be the company's focus.

"We think (dehydrated potatoes) is a good business," he said. "We have a need to supply dehydrated products to many of our existing customers, so this will give us a full selection of potato products for those customers, and we think it will also lead to alliances with new customers. The popularity, particularly, of dehydrated products has shown significant increase in recent years."

Simplot has been producing the dehydrated products, Zerza pointed out, but not marketing and distributing them. The alliance will give the company full production, marketing and distribution capabilities.

There will be no new employees added because of the agreement, Zerza said.

Simplot's vegetable processing plant in Quincy will also see changes ahead. The plant recently received the 2003 Silliker Platinum Audit Award, given by Silliker, Inc., the world's largest food testing company.

The award is presented annually to a maximum of 20 companies — 10 processing plants and 10 distribution centers — that receive the highest scores in Silliker GMP/ Food Safety and Distribution Center audits.

In a press release, Gary Smith, director of auditing at Silliker, Inc., praised the Quincy operation for its ongoing commitment to food safety and quality systems.

"The global food market is placing a higher premium on safety, and companies such as The Simplot Company are rising to this challenge in ensuring the production of safe, quality food products," Smith said. "The Silliker Platinum Audit Award serves as proof that a company has taken the responsibility to put in place, and practice, world-class food safety, production control and continuous improvement systems."

Zerza said that the award is certainly meaningful, although it comes virtually on the eve of Simplot's completing the sale of its Quincy plant to NORPAC.

Zerza said the sale is expected to be completed in mid-May, around May 15. A notice notifying employees of the transaction went out around March 15-17, he said, due to the company's obligation to inform employees at least 60 days in advance.

"The notice just indicated that they would no longer be Simplot employees, but we expect that the new owners would accept employment applications from existing employees …" Zerza said. "But we must defer to NORPAC on any specifics regarding employment plans."