WOMEN IN AG SPECIAL SECTION | INSIDE
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
CapitalPress.com
Friday, July 2, 2021
Volume 94, Number 27
$2.00
In a pickle
A cucumber’s journey through the grocery supply chain
The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island
The Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island both produces its own pickle line and sells cucumbers for pickling to Betsy Walton, who created a popular Pacifi c North-
west brand called Duker’s Dills.
EDITOR’S NOTE
In this two-part series, the Capital Press follows food from farm to retail
store. Last week’s story followed fresh fruits and vegetables. This week’s story
follows the separate supply chain for groceries and other value-added products.
P
market and grocery industry, measured
by revenue, is $658.1 billion, accord-
ing to market research fi rm IBISWorld.
That’s about $1.3 million generated per
minute.
It’s easy, Walton
learned, for farmers
and new food compa-
nies to make mistakes
and get hurt. But get-
ting a product to market,
if done right, can also be
exciting.
ORTLAND — Betsy Walton
had an idea.
It was 2008,
and Walton, then
57, decided to
leave her decades-long
career in the apparel indus-
try to create her own Ore-
gon-based food company.
It all started with
pickles.
Betsy Walton’s
Every Labor Day week-
big idea
end, Walton canned a batch
A product is born
of pickles using her grand-
When Walton started,
ma’s recipe. Friends told
she had no experience in
her she should take the
PCC Small Business commercial foods.
recipe to market — and
Development Center
“It was a riot,” Walton
fi nally, she decided to try.
She signed up for a Betsy Walton at a said. “I really didn’t know
local class called “Getting sample booth for her what I was getting myself
into.”
Your Recipe to Market,” Duker’s Dills.
To begin, she would
created a company called
need ingredients, proces-
Our Favorite Foods LLC and
sors, distributors and retail buyers.
named her pickle line Duker’s Dills.
Walton quickly learned the grocery Game on.
supply chain is a complex clockwork.
See Pickle, Page 9
The sheer size of the 2021 U.S. super-
5
6 Forwarding
warehouse 7 Broker
8 Distributor
PORTLAND — A Sen-
ate bill that would designate
nearly 4,700 miles of wild
and scenic rivers in Ore-
gon is being criticized for
including hundreds of small
creeks, streams and gulches
that, in some cases, were
found to completely dry
upon inspection.
The American Forest
Resources Council, a trade
group representing the tim-
ber industry, recently con-
ducted an analysis of the
proposal, arguing that cer-
tain non-river segments
under consideration “do not
meet the intent or defi nition
of the Wild and Scenic Riv-
ers Act.”
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden
and Jeff Merkley, both Dem-
ocrats, introduced the River
Democracy Act on Feb. 3.
The legislation was devel-
oped based on more than
15,000 nominations sub-
mitted by the public for
Wild and Scenic River Act
protections.
But according to the
AFRC, just 15% of the
waterways are actually
labeled as “rivers.”
Andy Geissler, federal
timber program director for
the AFRC, said he used for-
est maps to cross-reference
and locate the proposed sites
listed for inclusion in the
bill.
See River, Page 9
9 Retailer
Getty Images/Capital Press graphic
PRICING ADVICE
Supply chain experts recommend that
manufacturers/producers work backwards
to determine how much to charge for their
products, considering each markup. For
example:
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold): $0.49
Critics: Bill stretches defi nition of ‘wild rivers’
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
4 Processor
Manufacturer
or co-packer
& packaging
Manufacturer’s/Food Company’s 30% mark-
up: $0.15
Broker’s 5% commission: $0.03 (paid by
manufacturer, not added to fi nal price)
Distributor’s 15% markup: $0.10
Retailer’s 35% markup: $0.25
Retail price: $0.99
Oregon to keep COVID housing
and workplace rules in place
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Courtesy of Nick Smith
Andy Geissler, federal
timber program director
for the American Forest
Resource Council, strad-
dles a dry creek in South-
ern Oregon that has been
nominated as a Wild and
Scenic River under the
federal River Democracy
Act.
SALEM — While Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown has lifted statewide COVID-19 man-
dates on masking, social distancing and gath-
erings, rules implemented to protect employ-
ees from the coronavirus in workplaces and
labor housing will remain in eff ect for the
time being, according to the Oregon Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration.
That means farms gearing up for harvest
must continue to follow increased sanitation
requirements, as well as density restrictions in
labor camps for agricultural workers.
“Our rules, with the exception of masking
and distancing, will remain in place and con-
tinue to be subject to discussion about when
they’ll be repealed and how they’ll be phased
out,” said Michael Wood, Oregon OSHA
administrator.
Increased protections for farmworkers
date back to the beginning of the pandemic,
when the agency began enforcing emergency
COVID-19 regulations.
Among other measures, farms were
required to roughly double the number of
portable toilets and hand-washing stations
for fi eldworkers; clean and sanitize facilities
George Plaven/Capital Press
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown lifted most
mask and social distancing require-
ments June 30, but most other work-
place and worker housing rules remain
in place. Part of the COVID-19 tempo-
rary rule issued by Oregon OSHA re-
quires farms to double the number of
portable toilets and hand-washing sta-
tions.
three times a day; keep beds 6 feet apart in
housing units; and prohibit unrelated workers
from sharing bunk beds.
Workers also had to wear masks and stay
3 feet apart traveling to and from the fi eld in
See Rules, Page 9
Our HARNEY & JEFFERSON COUNTY
Founded in 1945
Lenders are Experienced, with a Focus on
by Farmers and Ranchers. Agricultural and Commercial Loans
Who saw a need for Rural Lending.
and Operating Lines of Credit.
BURNS
MADRAS
541-573-2006
541-475-7296
MEMBER
FDIC
293 N. BROADWAY 212 SW 4TH ST., STE 305
LAURA GEORGES
Burns, OR
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Madras, OR
S228589-1
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Grocery distribution chain
company
invents product
1 Food
2 Farm
3 Harvest