Those are the changes coming to the former John Cope’s Food Products, now that it’s been acquired by Pennsylvania Food Group, a spokesman said.
“We’re just trying to carry on the tradition that’s been there a long time and hopefully make some money at it,” said Gary Gregory on Tuesday.
Elaborating on a New Era story the day before that reported Cope’s assets had been sold to PFG, he said:
· The company will operate under the PFG name, not as Cope’s, with “significantly” fewer workers and sales.
· PFG will be solely a bulk processor of frozen corn, frozen peas and dried corn.
· PFG expects to process about 35 million pounds a year for food processors, soup makers and other “industrial” customers.
But that’s all PFG will do.
PFG has eliminated Cope’s business of processing and packing small bags of frozen vegetables for supermarket chains such as Winn-Dixie.
Also gone is the business of repacking other vegetables, including lima beans, green beans and carrots, for supermarkets and food-service distributors.
“It’s an entirely different company (now),” said Gregory.
“The concept of bulk-producing only is not a novel concept, but it’s a dramatic departure from the way Cope’s was operating in the past,” he continued.
“We dropped the sales, marketing and distribution. We’re a production-only company. The infrastructures that serve those two businesses are entirely different,” said Gregory.
Established in 1900, Cope’s was one of the county’s oldest and best-known agri-businesses, though it had struggled to stay profitable in recent years.
It emerged from a three-year bankruptcy in 2004 but ran into financial trouble again late last year, leading to its sale.
PFG will have “significantly” fewer year-round workers than the 100 that Cope’s officials reported in recent years, said Gregory.
Although he was unsure what the final tally would be, he said it would be less than 30 employees.
Gregory indicated that those job losses occurred in Cope’s last months.
“They were winding down their operations because they couldn’t sustain it,” he said.
The PFG spokesman declined to forecast the new company’s annual sales.
But again, it would be “significantly” less than the $30 million reported by Cope’s.
That’s because PFG’s annual processing volume will be below the 40 million-plus pounds Cope’s handled.
In addition, bulk sales generate less per pound than sales to the supermarket chains.
Gregory emphasized that while PFG is smaller than Cope’s was, the company also will have lower costs, increasing the chances it will be in the black.
“We thought if we simplified the process, we could make a small profit -- not a large profit, but a small profit every year,” he said.
Cope’s sold its land, buildings and equipment to PFG in December and its retail John Cope brand to Farm Stand Foods in Hanover in August.
PFG will supply those John Cope brand products, notably its toasted and dried sweet corn, to Farm Stand Foods to sell at retail, said Gregory.
Gregory is one of six frozen-food industry veterans with more than 120 years of combined experience who formed PFG to buy the Rheems-based Cope’s. He declined to identify the other founders.
He also declined to disclose the cost of acquiring Cope’s assets, but the real estate sold for $1,675,000, according to courthouse records.
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