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30 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2011
“One of the primary features of our company is the long view, and that supports our partners; it supports our stronger business model and it supports the community.”
— Hugh Topper
Group vice president of fresh procurement and merchandising
keep up with the latest food safety and production techniques.
“When we are working with suppliers today, we have conversations about needing them as much as they need us,” says Topper, adding, “H-E-B recognized that years and years ago — before I joined the company — that we want to have great relationships with growers and farmers.”
From the beginning, there have been local growers that H-E-B has helped finance to get their businesses started, Topper notes. “We have conversations with growers about what we might be doing that has a negative impact on their business and they give us open honest feedback,” he says. There are areas where H-E-B can make changes and some- times areas where it cannot because of the need to stay competitive in the marketplace, but “having an open conversation with suppliers about what is driving cost in their business and things that they want to do to be sustainable within their organization and understanding how we can support that has been a strong goal of ours,” he emphasizes.
Small farmers are not always well capital- ized; it could be risky for them to plant 20 acres of okra because if they do not have a home for that product, they are going to be in big trouble. “In certain instances, we have strategic partner relationships where we say, ‘If you grow X crop for us, we will take 100 percent of your capacity,’” says Topper. “I get to work with growers and farmers and be a part of that lifestyle, and I love the freshness of that,” he says, noting how he draws from his strong agricultural roots and 29 years in the produce business, including almost 19 years at H-E-B.
“We sit down with these local suppliers