Southern Gardens Citrus JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 127 Here stay S outhern Gardens Citrus has survived competition from trendy health drinks and crop destruction from insects, tropical storms and drought. Now the Clewiston, Florida- based orange grower and processor is threatened with flood, not from an act of nature but from a state plan to convert its orange groves into reservoirs and filter marshes to store and clean waters that harm the Florida Everglades and coastal estuaries. But Southern Gardens is undaunted by the state's proposal, confident that its processing operation will continue regardless of the fate of the Everglades plan, which could be finalized sometime next year. " We want to get the word out that reports of our death are greatly exaggerated," says Ricke Kress, Southern Gardens' president. " The citrus processing operation is not for sale, and it will continue to be a centerpiece of Florida citrus production. It will be business as usual either way." Although the company's 2.1 million trees on 16,500 acres may be under water in the foreseeable future, the 160 acres on which its state- of- the- art processing facility and 56 aseptic, sterile, refrigerated tanks for storing pasteurized, not- from- concentrate ( NFC) juice would not be affected by the plan. It is the processing plant and storage tanks that are essential to the other surrounding citrus growers, who save money and achieve a fresher product with a nearby processing facility, Kress explains. And plant operations wouldn't suffer with the loss of the company's own groves because 80 percent of the fruit it processes comes from other growers anyway, he adds. One of the largest citrus growers and processors in Florida, Southern Gardens is a major supplier of NFC orange juice to major brands and private label customers in the US. But its influence extends beyond its size because of its innovation, collaboration with government and university researchers, and stewardship of the environment. For starters, US Sugar, Southern Gardens' parent company, launched the citrus processing operations in 1994 ( preceded by tree planting beginning in 1986) by investing in the latest innovative technologies for the groves as well as the plant. The groves are nurtured with a computerized irrigation and fertilization system, and the plant is efficiently shaped to follow the flow of production, from incoming fruit to outgoing juice, Kress says. " We avoided a lot of inefficiencies by designing the plant the right way," Kress explains. " And we continue to make constant improvements to reduce labor and the Everglades threaten competition have already Gardens Citrus out of Derringer learns from the Florida that isn't going to happen

128 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 improve quality. If we can figure out a way to save water or handle fruit easier, we make those investments each year as we go." Shortly after starting operations, Southern Gardens made perhaps its biggest innovative leap of all. Recognizing that the higher quality of NFC juice would be a hit with consumers, it converted the plant from concentrate to NFC almost immediately. " We were one of the first in the industry to move to NFC, and today this is the norm," Kress says. " We knew that marketers were going to move in that direction." A major key to the successful move to NFC juice was the construction of aseptic storage tanks, which enabled the company to keep the juice cold and sterile without freezing, which in turn optimizes quality, he explains. Southern Gardens achieved another innovative breakthrough in collaboration with its transport suppliers, using liquid nitrogen to keep juice at a constant temperature in the tanker, irrespective of the outside temperature or distance traveled, Kress says. This breakthrough enables Southern Gardens to extend its markets as far as California, a three- or four- day drive. Currently, the company is developing disease- free trees in its nursery, one of the few in Florida that is compliant with the latest state agriculture regulations, Kress adds. The nursery may be expanded, he says, and whatever happens to the Everglades plan, Southern Gardens will still remain a major supplier of citrus trees to the Florida industry. Southern Gardens has also demonstrated its leadership of the industry with its strong record on the environment. " Nothing leaves the plant as waste," Kress says. " Any water we generate or use in our processes is reused multiple times and then diverted to irrigate our groves." In addition to its protection of the environment, Southern Gardens has set an industry example in its continuous grove inspections and quick uprooting of diseased trees. It has conducted its own research and collaborated with state and university scientists in seeking tools to combat first canker and now the greening disease that kills citrus trees. The first two field trials of the company's internal disease research work, as approved by the USDA, have been planted in the company groves. These trees are resistant to canker and greening in the lab; planting in a commercial environment will confirm resistance. Jackie Burns, interim director of the Citrus Research and Education Center at the University of Florida, says Southern Gardens has been a " pioneer in tackling important issues in the citrus industry" and a " role model" in its rapid removal of diseased fruit- bearing trees, even at the cost of crop revenues. " They are very forward- thinking and do whatever needs to be done," Burns says. " We'll always be a friend and a partner with Southern Gardens and the people who run it." Southern Gardens' processing plant remains one of the most efficient in the world and has topped global rankings for 12 of the last 14 years, according to Donn Sabato, US sales and service manager for JBT FoodTech Citrus Systems, which leases juice extractors to Southern Gardens and other citrus processors. " Customers pay per box, so their productivity is easy to measure," Sabato says. " Southern Gardens is one of the most automated and efficient plants in the world. And they have a great team." Not stopping its quest for further efficiencies, Southern Gardens embarked on a conversion to SAP ERP software in 2008 to optimize operations and lower costs. Dick DeFazio, CEO of Performance Consulting Associates, says his firm helped Southern Gardens with its SAP