Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993 TAG: 9307160011
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Long
Yes, the Bedford company is expanding its product line to include more meat and protein snacks.
And yes, Golden West is making a sales foray into the cafeterias of Virginia's schools, where customers are considered especially fickle.
But while he juggles these business matters, Metz seems always to have a free hand to grab a nugget of batter-dipped turkey, a cheese stick or a crunchy slice of blueberry french toast, his personal favorite.
As president, Metz notes, he must personally and consistently monitor the quality of his products. And what better way than to munch.
Golden West is a subsidiary of McCormick & Co., a Fortune 500 company better known as "the spice people," employees explain.
"That's where we shine, being a part of McCormick," Metz says. His company draws on the spice expertise of its parent company to produce 16 varieties of frozen finger food. Originally Childer's Foods Inc., the company was purchased by McCormick in 1968, and is McCormick's only frozen-food unit.
That relationship with "the spice people" allows Golden West Foods to coat their products with distinctive blends of paprika, oregano, pepper, or cinnamon and vanilla, giving them a unique advantage over other companies in the highly competitive field. The company also has the advantage of buying onions and other materials from McCormick's many subsidiaries.
Golden West Foods now has distribution reaching into Canada, Australia and the Middle East, operations manager Bob Manzer says. International sales reached $317 million for 1992.
And that's not all. This Bedford company, which employs 160 people, has the distinction of being the world's largest manufacturer of extruded onion rings.
What, you ask, are extruded onion rings? They're perfectly round and uniform, each one tasting like the next. Onions are chopped, mixed, and extruded through machines, yielding thousands of rings of consistent flavor, size and texture.
Each year, Golden West Foods makes enough onion rings to stretch across the U.S. 10 times, according to company marketing specialists.
Fast food and family restaurants, are Golden West's customers, with the Burger King chain being the biggest. And most items are customized for special accounts. Metz says his company sells half a dozen French toast products, each tailored for a different customer.
For example, in the onion rings department, they make TexMex rings, BBQ-flavored rings, and a line called "Rings Around the World," with tastes from Santa Fe and Sicily.
The company also sells to wholesale clubs, and for the last year, has been making inroads into school systems' food service operations.
Golden West's Popcorn Turkey nuggets have been on Bedford County's school menu a few times, receiving rave reviews by students. Metz says he got so many inquiries from parents of Bedford children asking where they could buy the crunchy nuggets that Golden West now operates a company store next to its plant on Orange Street. The store is open to the public the first and third Friday of every month.
Golden West Foods have appeared in nine other school systems around the state within the last year, including Roanoke County, Metz says. His taste buds seem to be in tune with his customers. The turkey and French toast are favorites among the younger generation, too.
"You cannot sit behind your desk and figure," Metz says. The trick is to be in touch with customers to discern the long-term trends, rather than flash-in-the-pan fads.
With that in mind, the company is beginning to make more beef, turkey and cheese snacks, in addition to its lines of onion rings, breaded okra, cauliflower and zucchini slices. The move will help expand the company's market base, Metz says.
And some new products are in the works. Golden West Foods is unusual in that it is certified by both the Food and Drug Administration - with jurisdiction over cheese and other foodstuffs - and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - which regulates meat products.
To take advantage of that, the company is developing a combination item to show customers, Metz says. All he would say about it for now, though, is that it will be a meat and cheese snack.
Aside from expanding its market and product line, Golden West is also pushing for a greener way to do business.
Earlier this month, the company installed a prototype underground fuel storage tank that could help solve one of the country's most nettlesome environmental problems.
The system was developed and patented by Control on Environment Systems, Inc., also of Bedford.
Manzer says the beauty of the system is its simplicity - 12,000-gallon tank sitting in a cement vault buried in the ground. Any escaping fuel would be detected, immediately contained, and recycled back into the tank, he says.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB