Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/418083
72 DECEMBER 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com E ach day at 4 p.m., Fred Duckwall takes a break from his work and heads down from his second-fl oor offi ce to the pack- ing line to join the night crew in warm-up exercises. Pear packers at Duckwall Fruit Company near Hood River, Oregon, begin each shift by doing hand and arm exercises and stretches for fi ve minutes to loosen up. By the time the shift ends 7 1/2 hours later, the aver- age worker will have individu- ally paper-wrapped more than 20,000 pears at lightening speed and filled 230 boxes. Some might wrap as many as 30,000 pears, averaging more than one per second. The motivation? Piece rate. Fred, who is company presi- dent, says it's work that requires exceptional manual dexterity. When new recruits are trained, it's easy to tell who has the skill and who hasn't. Has Fred tried it? "No, I'd starve to death," he joked. Duckwall Fruit, which packs pears but doesn't grow any, employs 180 people at the peak of the season and about 30 year round. "We've got an incredible employee base—peo- ple who've worked for us for 25 to 30 years at the packing house, and we respect our employees and appreciate our employees," said Fred, who enjoys the people aspect of the business. "I know a pretty good percentage of the employ- ees who work on the line by name. When you see people every day, you get to remember their names and what's going on with them. That's what makes the business so fun to be involved in because you know who's down there doing the job. It's not impersonal." Creating a happy place to work is part of the company's mission statement, along with being the best pear packer in the northwest and maintaining its integrity. "Integrity is huge," Fred said. "If you tell the buyer what you're going to do, you'd better stand behind it and make sure the product meets their expectations." It was Fred's father, John, who founded the com- pany in 1919. He came from Indianapolis to Hood River where he planted apple trees, interplanted with strawberries as a cash crop while the trees were growing. 1RFRQ½LFWRILQWHUHVW He packed fruit in the orchard and shipped it back to Indianapolis. When neighboring orchard- ists heard how much he'd received for the fruit, they asked him to pack and sell theirs, too, the following year. As the packing business grew, John decided to sell the orchard and pack only fruit from other growers, which he felt avoided a confl ict of interest. Today, the company still owns no orchard and is one of few fruit packers in the Northwest that are not vertically integrated. It is also unusual in pack- ing only pears and no other fruits. PEOPLE COUNT at Duckwall Fruit Duckwall's mission is to mold a team who will achieve the best possible results for its growers and customers, and ultimately consumers. by Geraldine Warner 0DULD+HUQDQGH]OHDGVWKHSPSDFNLQJOLQHVWUHWFKLQJH[HUFLVHEHIRUHWKHVWDUWRIWKHQLJKWVKLIW ,QDQHIIRUWWRFXWGRZQRQUHSHWLWLYHPRWLRQLQMXULHV'XFNZDOOEULQJVLQDSK\VLFDOWKHUDSLVW RQFHDZHHNIRUHPSOR\HHZHOOQHVVFKHFNVDQGPDVVDJHWKHUDS\ PHOTOS BY TJ MULLINAX DUCKWALL'S mission statement 'XFNZDOO)UXLW&RPSDQ\ VWULYHVWR — Be the best packer in the Northwest and earn that rep- utation in the market — Maintain integrity with all people — Create a happy place to work — Recruit and retain the best possible employees in the Northwest — Grow moderately to be com- petitive and use the capacity of the facilities —Achieve target profi tability — Pay dues for the space the company occupies in the community and industry