Balance is an important principle for any business. Treasure Valley Food Group – a privately held food company based out of Boise, Idaho – exercises this principle daily. By staying on top of both its supply chain and the needs of its customers, the company has maintained a successful position in the retail grocery and foodservice industry for nearly two decades.

Old Time Service

Founded in 1994, Treasure Valley Food Group has grown into a branded food company with products across several categories, ranging from frozen potatoes and fruits to proteins and sauces. The company sells its products – which include brands like TJ Farms Select, Hailey’s Harvest, 505 Southwestern salsa, and Chris’ & Pitt’s BBQ sauces – across 30,000 grocery stores nationwide as well as in Mexico, Central America, and Korea.

But as large as the company has grown, it’s based on one simple tenet: customer service.

“In this industry, the responsibilities of buyers are being converged,” says Treasure Valley CEO Gary Lim, who has been with the company since its conception. “Where previously there might be four buyers doing different jobs, now you have one buyer doing four jobs. Our idea is to provide buyers with back-to-basics customer service, quality, and price – a low-maintenance service for a buyer who has way more responsibilities than he did before. We’re really focused on the fundamentals.”

That full service approach is one that Treasure Valley considers a point of pride. “We serve our customers by always asking questions, the right questions,” Lim continues. “Too many companies will approach a potential or existing customer and tell them what they can do for them – the oversight is that maybe that’s not how they want to be served. So before we tell clients what we do, we always take the approach where we ask questions to find out their needs, the right combination of service that our customers are looking for instead of just saying ‘here’s what we can do for you.’”

Modern Day Technology

“In the past, when buyers ordered a truckload of products, they’d want ten items on there,” says Lim. “Now they want forty items on a truck, because they need to turn their inventories faster.” As markets expand and the pace of business speeds up, some companies risk falling behind. But, just because Treasure Valley Food Group is committed to old school customer service, that doesn’t mean it’s relying on old school methods. To the contrary, the company is getting a jump on the competition with the help of state-of-the-art tools like a virtual inventory.

“We have virtual interface with each of the warehouses, where we have live inventory,” Lim explains. “At any moment at any time, we can view what’s available at each ‘mixing center’ location.

“For example, when a customer in Cleveland calls and says, ‘I need to place an order for these items,’ we can show them exactly what’s there through our live virtual real-time inventory. They don’t have to place an order, only to find out a week later that the product isn’t available to ship – we’re able to give real answers right away.”

A Well-Connected Chain

“Because we’re a commodity-driven company, we have to always be on the alert to stay in touch with where the market stands,” says Lim. Treasure Valley’s commodity-dedicated procurement/customer service team helps the company stay in touch with its inventory at every level of production from the source to the finish line.

“Take potatoes, for example,” Lim notes. “We go down to the root of it all – what was the acreage planted? If a hundred acres were available for planting this year, were all one hundred planted? By staying in touch with each commodity category to see exactly what was planted, we have an idea to expect a high or low yield. Then, based on that, we stay on track to see what the harvest was like – was there a high yield based on harvest or low yield? Then it goes into processing – how is the quality of the potato? That will determine what kind of yields you get through the plant.”
 

“So throughout that process, we have our hand on the pulse of the whole entire category to see if we’re going to be long or short on a certain commodity,” he continues. “We don’t wait until the product is finished and then go, ‘is there enough supply or a shortage of supply?’ We go right to the field to get a better indication of what type of product and how much will be on the open market.”

Not that this is all done without purpose – like everything else at Treasure Valley, it comes back to the customers. “All of this contributes to the end result: having the best price available for the customers we sell to in the grocery store.”

The Road Ahead

The future continues to look bright for Treasure Valley – in its fourth quarter, the company is set to launch a new line of microwavable-on-the-go breakfast items, Italian-style Meatballs, Crinkle Cut Sweet Potato Fries and more. But no matter what new products come our way, the product Treasure Valley continues to perfect will always be service.