business backgrounder | industry
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• President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March 6 as National Frozen
Foods Day in 1984. Retail sales of frozen food in the United States
totaled about $56 billion in 2010.
• National Frozen Food’s top products are corn, peas, carrots and
green beans.
generation was understandably tied to it. “I was spending
more time telling people what we didn’t do, instead of what
we did,” he said.
The company’s leaders have also made updating their
processing plants in Moses Lake, Chehalis, Quincy, and
Albany, Ore. a priority. National now uses electronic palletizers, robotic machines to sort and stack products, and
computerized color sorters to weed out foreign objects such
as extra stems and wood from the produce.
One of the most recent and significant developments happened in 2008, when the McCaffray family sold the company
to a private equity firm. By then the stock had been gifted to
the fourth generation and there were 54 shareholders.
The company wanted to make some additional capital
investments — and they needed more financial backing.
“The company that purchased it presented themselves
wanting to perpetuate our values, and they’ve done what
they said,” Steve McCaffray said.
The new ownership retained all of the company’s employees. And the McCaffray family still has a presence. Steve’s
daughter, Kelley McCaffray Martin, is the sales director, and
his cousin, Bob Ashmun, is a vice president.
Integrity Financial Corporation helps business owners evaluate
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38 association of washington business