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Ohio is a leading manufacturer of key food and agricultural products

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:00:19 +0000

Ohio is a leading manufacturer of key food and agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, specialty foods, Swiss cheese and eggs. Food industry leaders such as Kroger, J.M. Smucker, Honeybaked Foods Inc., Bob Evans Farms and others call Ohio home. Other key food processing firms located in the state include Worthington Foods/Kellogg's in Greater Columbus, General Mills, with the world's largest pizza plant in Wellston, and Nestle, which produces Stouffer products near Cleveland. Ohio's food and beverage manufacturing industry exports equal $25 billion annually.

Ohio's strategic location between the grain belt and Eastern markets brings together all of the elements that comprise food production and underlies the state's strength in food processing. In fact, Ohio currently ranks in the top five states in one-half of the food processing groups, first in the production of Swiss cheese and second in the production of tomatoes. The industry employs more than 60,000 workers at 1,106 plants. Ohio is also home to companies that manufacture food processing machinery, such as Hobart Corp., building synergy in this important industry.

The state's commercial and public food research institutions include commercial nutraceutical industry leaders such as Abbott Nutrition and institutions such as The Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Toledo's Center for Innovative Food Technology.

Learn more about Ohio's agriculture and food processing industry.

Ohio’s diverse agriculture and food production industry

admin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:00:07 +0000

Ohio’s strategic location brings together all of the elements that comprise food production and underlies the state’s strength in food processing. Ohio's rich food production industry is a diverse sector that includes farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, agbioscience, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales. In 2009, Ohio’s food and beverage manufacturing industry shipped $24 billion worth of products. Ohio currently ranks first in the production of Swiss cheese, and second in the production of tomatoes. The industry employs more than 60,000 workers at 1,106 production plants.

Ohio agricultural and food processing product rankings:

1st in the production of Swiss Cheese in the United States
2nd in the production of eggs
3rd in fresh and processed tomatoes
5th overall in food processing
World’s largest yogurt plant (Dannon) in Auglaize County, Ohio

Located between the grain belt and the populous Eastern markets, Ohio is a great location for food processing companies to do business. In fact, Ohio is within 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) of 61 percent of all U.S. and Canadian manufacturing locations. Combined with a strong transportation infrastructure and intermodal connections, and a low-cost business environment, Ohio is the best location to access your suppliers and customers.

Ohio offers a rich agriculture and food production sector, robust workforce and partnership opportunities to help your business prosper.

Q&A: How being located in Ohio contributes to business success

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:00:36 +0000

Cooper Farms has been a successful business for over 70 years. It employs 1,300 team members who work at four divisions throughout Northwestern and Western Ohio. Every year the company posts a 5-to-10 percent business growth in the highly competitive wholesale food supply industry.

In a world where companies start and fail rapidly, sustained success is a remarkable accomplishment that offers important lessons. I wanted to understand how being in Ohio has uniquely contributed to Cooper Farms' amazing track record. To steal a phrase from the book Built to Last, I was eager to talk with Gary Cooper (VP and COO) and learn how he is "building a clock versus simply keeping time."

Q: Gary, how does being located in Ohio contribute to Cooper Farms' success?

A: The first thing that comes to mind is people. In Ohio, we have found some of the most amazing people. The employees of our company share Midwest farm values of honesty, trustworthiness, common sense and family traditions. I know, without question, that every Cooper Farms associate comes to work each and every day with the goals of doing what is right and contributing their best. I appreciate that this may be the expectation every company has of its employees. But, I also know it is the rare executive who can legitimately claim that the expectation is reality. Ohio people give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and take great pride in doing the job right. We have friendly, caring people who are more like family than employees.

Read the rest of my interview with Gary.

Ohio is leading manufacturer of key food and agricultural products

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:00:35 +0000

Ohio is a leading manufacturer of key food and agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, specialty foods, Swiss cheese and eggs. Food industry leaders such as Kroger, J.M. Smucker, Honeybaked Foods Inc., Chiquita Brands International and Bob Evans Farms call Ohio home. Other key food processing firms located in the state include Worthington Foods/Kellogg's in Greater Columbus, General Mills, with the world's largest pizza plant in Wellston, and Nestle, which produces Stouffer products near Cleveland. Ohio's food and beverage manufacturing industry exports equal $25 billion annually.

Learn more about Ohio's agriculture and food processing industry.

Ohio ag incubator helps entrepreneurs grow

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:00:12 +0000

Ohio's agriculture and food processing industry represents all elements of food processing and production. With 76,500 farms covering more than 14 million acres, nearly 55 percent of the total land area, Ohio's strategic location between the grain belt and Eastern markets brings together all of the elements that comprise food production and underlies Ohio's strength in food processing. Although responsible for only 2 percent of the nation's crop and livestock production, the state ranks 18th in value of total agricultural products sold. The state is also a leader in the specialized nutraceutical food production industry.

A new ag incubator in Northwest Ohio has helped entrepreneurs grow their dreams for more than 10 years, according to hiVelocity.

"This is so yummy you ought to sell it" has warmed many a home cook's heart. And for more than 10 years, Ohioans with recipes and dreams have been using the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen in Bowling Green to launch their businesses.

NOCK was established by the Agricultural Incubator Foundation as a place where regional residents can access a professional-grade facility. A catering kitchen opened first, followed by a cannery in 2005 and blanching/freezing space in 2010. Many jars of barbecue sauce, boxes of chocolates and so on have rolled out of NOCK's doors over the years.

Early "graduates" have been so successful their products were sold at major retailers and at numerous regional markets. Today, 27 entrepreneurs are renting the NOCK resources for production, says manager Paula Ray.

Source: hivelocity

Find out more about Ohio's agriculture and food processing industry and how NOCK is helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams in the ag industry.