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When Charles F. Seabrook purchased the South Jersey farm form his father in 1912, he wanted Seabrook Farms to be a pioneer in the growing, storing and selling of fresh healthy vegetables.
He made his farm one of the first ever to use overhead irrigation and gasoline-powered tractors and then expanded the farm to include a canning and freezing facility. And yet, the bottom line was always the same: provide consumers with the best quality, freshest tasting vegetables.
He made his farm one of the first ever to use overhead irrigation and gasoline-powered tractors and then expanded the farm to include a canning and freezing facility. And yet, the bottom line was always the same: provide consumers with the best quality, freshest tasting vegetables.
For over 100 years, that pioneering spirit has positioned the farm and Seabrook Brothers and Sons as a leader in frozen vegetable business.
Today, the fourth generation of the Seabrook Family grows, processes and freezes 150 million pounds of vegetables from the Garden State each year, still operating with the same vision.
“We’re fourth generation – it’s exciting,” said Wes Seabrook, Vice President of Engineering at Seabrook Brothers and Sons. “What keeps us in business is, there’s always a way to get better at what you’re doing. Being able to change is the best thing you can do for your company.”
“You look at how the oldest companies survive, and really it is all about change. Back in the old days, we had about 7,000 employees. We’re now providing even more of the same products and services than ever before with 450 employees,” Seabrook said.
“Change began as soon as we replaced the old mule-drawn farm equipment with the first Caterpillar tractors. Just think of how technology made working in the fields so much more simple, efficient and productive.”
Staying Ahead of the Curve, and the Competition
To most shoppers the name Seabrook Farms is synonymous with crisp frozen green beans and a frozen creamed spinach that tastes better than homemade. These products can be found in supermarkets primarily up and down the East Coast.
A large part of the business at Seabrook is actually the processing and freezing of vegetables for other manufacturers. In 1978, when the new generation took the reins of the business, they decided it was time to once reinvigorate that pioneering spirit that kept the Seabrook name alive. They knew that to meet higher demand and increased volume, the company would have to look to get ahead of the industry curve and find ways to process and freeze higher quantities faster and more efficient.
“The good thing for us is people are still eating. South Jersey still has a lot of farmland here and we are so close to the big metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Washington DC and even Boston,” he said. “We are in a perfect location to respond to the needs of those cities.”
They took a hard look at operating costs and efficiencies and determined that a major expense was their boiler.
“Our business relies a great deal on that boiler for flash steaming, cooking and freezing. And with the old one we were losing a lot of time and money,” Seabrook said. Here’s why:
First, a tube boiler takes a very long time to start up. Walking in on Monday morning and firing up the boiler meant hours and hours of non-productivity.
Another option would be to just keep the boiler running through the weekend without actually using it. The problem with that is, New Jersey law requires a certified boiler operator to be with the boiler at all times that it is running.
Both options seemed to be a waste of time and money. That is when they learned of Clayton Industries.
Please tune into tomorrow’s Chemical Equipment Daily for part two of this two-part series. For more information, please visit www.claytonindustries.com.
