Badger State Fruit Processing selects foam insulation to improve energy savings
An old adage suggests if you want something done right, do it yourself. In today’s climate of global interconnectivity, the idea that an individual could even consider doing everything required to run a 21st century business successfully simply isn’t possible. However, the notion of looking internally to solve problems head-on remains a critical constant. At Badger State Fruit Processing, a Pittsville, Wis.-based family-owned business providing a unique combination of services to Wisconsin’s cranberry industry, growing from within has been more than a mantra—it’s a catalyst.
Badger State Fruit Processing’s roots trace back to the 1980s, when owner Wayne Gardner was a truck driver transporting produce for local cranberry growers and learning to recognize where the local resources were under developed. For Gardner, the greatest deficiency in Wisconsin’s early 1990s supply chain was a lack of sufficient cleaning, receiving and cold storage stations close to where the fruit was being grown. Because of cranberries’ short harvest season—from late September to October—essentially all of the fruit is ready at the same time. Therefore, the processing facilities struggled to keep up with demand. In response, Gardner and his brother Tom, who had already started growing their own crop of cranberries on two 1.5-acre bogs, built their first cold storage facility in 1996, adding a vital link to the distribution chain between growers and processors.