Truitt Brothers, Inc.

Peter and David Truitt purchased their cannery in Salem, Oregon in 1973. The Truitts were introduced to Food Alliance in 2005 by a private label customer. “Our customer’s objective was to add value to their product so they could present themselves as a more responsible company in the food service market,” remembers Peter. “I decided we ought to just find out where we stand.” says Peter. He called Food Alliance and invited them to come assess the cannery operation. The experience helped convince him to develop and market the first Truitt Brothers branded products for food service and retail.

"Anybody can go to a market and say, ‘we practice sustainable values, we are very sustainable,’ but Food Alliance Certified means something.”

Today, Truitt Brothers’ cans of Food Alliance Certified green beans and pears have an attractive green and yellow label printed in soy-based inks on 100% recycled paper. “You could almost eat the label,” laughs Peter. The label also includes something rarely seen – the name of the farmer who grew the food inside. Peter points out that these days many canned pears are grown in China and South America. He is betting that there is a market for canned produce that is clearly linked to an American farm.

So far, Peter is excited by customer response. “It happens that really having a credible demonstration of where the produce came from does make a difference to the consumer. Anybody can go to a market and say, ‘we practice sustainable values, we are very sustainable,’ but Food Alliance Certified means something.” It means enough that Truitt Brothers will be offering new product lines in 2008, including Food Alliance Certified canned black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans.