Alpine Fresh

Alpine Fresh, a US-based grower, packer and shipper of blueberries headquartered in Miami, Florida, has announced a joint venture with fellow Florid group Five Star Family Growers.

Beginning in March of 2013, Alpine Fresh and Five Star Family Growers will begin packing Florida-grown blueberries in a new, state-of-the-art packing facility.

This new blueberry packing shed will be built from the ground up and will mark the beginning of a partnership with Five-Star in central Florida.

'Five Star Family Growers is proud to partner with AlpineFresh in developing this new state of the art refrigeration and packingfacility,' said Randy Knapp, owner­­ of Five Star Family Growers. 'We look forward to offering a more competitive approach to packing and marketing fruit from the local growers. Our family looks forward to a long term business relationship with both Walter, Stacy, and the entire Alpine Fresh team.'

This new venture, spearheaded by Alpine Fresh’s North American berry programme director, Stacy Spivey, is expected to produce and pack over 1m lbs in fresh blueberries this upcoming season.

'Alpine feels very fortunate to have partnered with a top-notch family owned farm like Five-Star,' said Stacy Spivey ofAlpine Fresh. 'Randy and his family have built an impeccable operation and we look forward to rounding out their business by adding an onsite packing facility. This partnership is a breeding ground for innovation and we are excited about what the future holds.'2