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HOMESTEAD, FL
January 9, 2003
In today's business world, the headlines are dominated by stories of failed start-ups, enormous corporate bankruptcies, and business models that fail their first real-life tests. It is extremely rare to hear about companies that have survived and prospered for seventy-five years, and such an achievement is even more remarkable when that company faces the daily obstacles found in the produce industry. Yet, that is the story of Brooks Tropicals of Homestead, FL, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding this year.
The Company - Products and Innovations
Brooks Tropicals was founded in 1928 by Charles Brooks and his son, J.R. Today, J.R.'s son, Neal Palmer "Pal" Brooks, Sr. owns the firm and serves as president. Today the company is the nation's largest supplier of tropical fruits and vegetables, its main product lines being avocados, papayas, and carambolas (starfruit). In addition, it provides over thirty other commodities, ranging from plantains and yuca to sugar cane and calabaza. During much of its history, Brooks Tropicals was the largest lime producer and seller in the U.S. In addition to growing a substantial portion of the products it sells, the company also packs, ships, maintains and manages Florida groves; and markets products for Caribbean and South American growers. The firm is dedicated to expanding the American palate, and has consistently devoted substantial resources to educating American consumers about tropical fruit and vegetable products.
One characteristic that has distinguished Brooks Tropicals over the past seventy-five years has been an unwavering commitment to innovation in every aspect of its business – products, packaging, shipping methods, and quality-control techniques.
For example, the company developed the Brooks LiteTM avocado concept, which promotes that Florida avocados have less fat and fewer calories than California avocados. The process of verifying that Brooks Tropicals' avocados met the standards set by the Food and Drug Administration took over two years and involved numerous steps. First, an independent lab tested Florida and California avocados, finding that Florida varieties have less fat and fewer calories than the California types. This gave the company the "green light" to create the Brooks LiteTM brand, indicating that its avocados have 50% less fat than the leading California avocado. Next, to best ensure label compliance, Brooks Tropicals invested heavily in an in-house laboratory that tests fruit using the ADAC-approved gas chromatography method. This lab produced results in just two days, rather than the two weeks it took to get answers from an outside lab. Finally, Brooks developed a second label, SlimCado, and added the Less Fat program for avocados that are confirmed to have 30% less fat than the leading California avocado.
Pal Brooks was also the first to recognize the potential of the carambola market several decades ago, and his firm is the dominant U.S. producer of carambolas. Furthermore, the company pioneered the idea of packaging limes in bags, a practice that has become extremely widespread since. The company was also the first to use hydrocooling on avocados, which made it possible to palletize its avocados, leading to significant savings in packing and shipping costs. Brooks Tropicals has also led the way in quality assurance – for example, by installing Floridas first refrigerated packinghouse loading dock, which allows for a Continuous Cold ChainTM during storage and transport. The firm was also a pioneer in the use of hot water treatment to control Mediterranean fruit fly and anthracnose in mangoes.
A Gantlet of Obstacles As if the day-to-day volatility of the produce industry were not enough, Brooks Tropicals has had to survive through a number of bona fide catastrophes. From the freeze in 1977 which destroyed avocado and lime crops, and reduced production a whopping 70%, to 1992's Hurricane Andrew's devastation, which overturned huge numbers of avocado and mango trees and destroyed 800 acres of company lime groves.
In the face of such wreckage, Brooks Tropicals was determined to persevere and recover. Since limes comprised such a significant fraction of Brooks Tropicals' sales, the company invested heavily in rebuilding its lime business in the wake of Hurricane Andrew's devastation. This financing began to pay off in the late-1990s, when the lime industry in South Florida boomed again. But, just as Brooks Tropicals was poised for its best-ever year in lime sales, citrus canker appeared, and the government's heavy-handed attempts to control the spread led to the destruction of 250,000 of Brooks' lime trees. Not to be deterred, the company quickly moved to fill in the gaps in its business with its rapidly-growing line of papayas.
Unique from All the Rest Since Brooks Tropicals has had to withstand such adversity over the past seventy-five years, one may naturally wonder what makes the firm so special. The company has always believed strongly in using science and technology to deliver the highest quality product possible to the consumer. Consequently, Brooks Tropicals maintains a full-time, in-house staff devoted to quality control and research and development. The company has consistently been an industry leader when it comes to investment in these areas.
Brooks points to his company's resilience and willingness to embrace change. Since Brooks has seen numerous companies in the produce industry being driven out of business by inflexibility over the years, he says it is crucial for firms to "enjoy dancing with change." He adds: "You can't resist change, especially in an industry like ours that has low barriers to entry." To illustrate, the firm only recently began farming offshore, but it boldly and confidently went ahead with the move because, in Brooks' plain language, "that's where the opportunity was."
Looking Into the Future Perhaps the secret to the company's longevity has something to do with this family continuity - four generations long now - which enables the company to maintain a steady and focused perspective. So, while Brooks Tropicals is sure to face more challenges in this ever-changing industry, the same qualities that have characterized the firm over its first seventy-five years will continue to guide it in the future. |
