Fresno gets headquarters of global food supplier Olam

Global food supplier to employ 100 people.

Posted at 07:34 PM on Tuesday, May. 17, 2011

By Robert Rodriguez / The Fresno Bee Share

Even as other parts of the nation are showing signs of economic recovery, evidence of a turnaround has been slower in the San Joaquin Valley. Our unemployment rate, above 18%, is significantly higher than the state and national jobless rates. But there are hopeful signs with the welcome news that Olam International, a leading global supplier of agricultural products and food ingredients, is making Fresno its West Coast headquarters.

With home-grown products like salted caramel biscotti and flavored jalapeños, Valley entrepreneurs are trying to get a toehold in the growing trend of specialty gourmet food.

Using the latest in growing techniques, central San Joaquin Valley farmers increasingly are investing in the olive oil industry.

For decades, a single philosophy has prevailed inside the Fresno State agriculture department. Whether is was growing grapes or almonds or producing milk, students were taught that the best way to farm – indeed the only way – was to rely on conventional methods.

Olam International, a global food supplier, is raising its profile in the central San Joaquin Valley by making Fresno its West Coast headquarters.

The Singapore-based Olam has quietly expanded its holdings in California over the last several years and is looking to centralize its operations.

From Fresno, the company will manage six California processing plants, along with factories in Nevada and New Mexico. Its Valley holdings include a vegetable dehydration plant in Firebaugh and Hanford and a tomato processing plant in Lemoore.

The Fresno office also will be responsible for the company's growing almond and cotton business, as well as marketing its spice and vegetable ingredient business.

Olam is one of the world's leading suppliers of agricultural products and food ingredients, sourcing more than 20 products from 64 countries.

Today, Fresno city, county and economic development officials will welcome the company's new offices at River Park Circle with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Olam's decision to put its West Coast headquarters here validates what we have been saying for years, and that is that we are a global leader in agriculture production," said Steve Geil, president of the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation.

Olam is launching its Fresno office with 40 employees, but plans to expand to at least 100 people by the end of the year. In California, Olam employs about 3,000 workers at its processing plants.

John Gibbons, president of Olam Americas, said the decision to make Fresno its West Coast headquarters was an easy one.

"After several acquisitions in California, we really wanted to bring all our operations in the West into a central hub, and Fresno was the natural choice," Gibbons said. "After all, it is the bread basket of the U.S., and it has an available workforce."

The jobs at Olam will include administrative support, information technology, marketing and finance.

Gibbons said the goal for its West Coast operations is to expand the markets for processing tomatoes, almonds and cotton. All three commodities are grown widely in the Valley.

"We have a big footprint in other parts of the world, but if you want to be in almonds, you have to in California, and you have to be in the San Joaquin Valley," Gibbons said.

Valley grower Mark Borba said having a major food processor and buyer such as Olam in the Valley provides farmers with another important outlet for their crops.

"They are world traders and, as growers in the Valley, we need to have access to those markets," said Borba, a cotton and almond grower.

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