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By Emmy Koeleman
California based Central Coast Farms, formerly known as Central Coast Fryer’s Inc., recently underwent a series of changes to revamp its image by modernising its former company name, relocating its headquarters, updating its websites and creating a new logo. Why? “To get closer to the high end customer via an open and transparent operation, explains Scott Rumbeck, marketing director of Central Coast Farms.“For example, we got rid of the word “fryer” in our company name, as many people these days don’t know what a fryer is.”Although many Californians may not be familiar with old fashioned words such as fryer, they do have a lot of understanding about food processing, are well informed about agriculture and have strong demands when it comes to animal welfare and husbandry practices. In this respect, California is different than other US states and inclines towards a more European mentality when it comes to raising livestock. For example, California will be the first US state to ban caged eggs from sale as of 2015 and the state has recently approved a set of stricter animal welfare rules (the so-called proposition 2). Rumbeck: “We try to stay very connected to our customer base.
We often do in-store demos, offering cooked product in a meet the farmer type setting. This allows us to strengthen our relationships with our customers by answering the technical questions they may have about the food they eat. Bridging this gap validates who we are and; paired with our antibiotic free, vegetarian fed and optimum care claims, we are able to get our whole message across”.
Niche market
It is obvious that the company, with its headquarters in Santa Clara, has a clear message to tell. “This is vital to survive in the competitive poultry industry, especially when serving the high end customer that will continually raise questions about the way the chickens were housed, fed and treated,” Rumbeck explains. Working closely with Andrew Carlson, president of Central Coast Farms and a third generation chicken farmer himself, Rumbeck is the heart of the organisation setting out new projects, overseeing the management of the farms and being the face of the company.
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| Scott Rumbeck, marketing director of Central Coast Farms. |
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Source: World Poultry, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2011
