The Westerner for January 11, 2010
Meeting: chair, Mike Ryan; music, Jerome; grace, Bob Kimmerly
Attendance/Guests: 38 including Alex Paterson, guest of Lynette; Angela Santiago, guest speaker; Nadine Fulmer, Rotary Club of Edmonton Northeast; Stephen Lau, Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview plus his guests Lorraine Yoneda, Linda Rasmussen, John Rennie, and David Robinson
Second Notice - Proposed New Member: Alex Paterson, proposed by Lynette
Future Events: January 25 - Robbie Burns Lunch meeting; January 31 - dim sum @ Golden Rice Bowl, 10:30 am.
Microbanks: Chris explained the mechanism of the 2 only $3,000 microbanks just funded from casino funds for Guatemala. Funds go through Rotarians in Guatemala to a group of ladies who borrow the funds to be used to start or improve sole proprietorship businesses that the ladies operate to provide money to support heir families. They repay the money over a number of months including a small interest component. There is virtually no arrears or defaults. Before the loans are made, the local Rotarians teach the ladies how to run and manage their business.
50/50: Mike Ryan & Charlie left $83 for next week
Finemaster: Ron quizzed the tables for Canadian Rotary history from the recently received Canadian insert that comes with the Rotarian - $1 for wrong answers. Who brought the Rotary idea to Canada - Pat McIntyre; when was the first Rotary Club started in Canada - November 3, 1910; when was it chartered with Rotary (soon to be International) - April 13, 1912; what was first Rotary motto - He Profits Most Who Serves Best; when the Winnipeg club was chartered, how many clubs were in Rotary - Winnipeg was the 35th; if the club chartered when it was started what number would it have been - 17; who became the first Rotary president from outside the United States - in 1917, Canadian E. Leslie Pidgeon; when did Rotary change to Rotary International and how many clubs in Canada at the time - 1922 with 61 clubs; when was the first Rotary convention held in Canada - 1924; how many registered to attend that convention - 9187
Guest Speaker: Lynette introduced Angela Santiago, chief executive officer of the Little Potato Company, who raised a family of 4 children while starting this company with her father. The first year, they washed the potatoes in a bathtub, graduated to a car wash the next year and, now, execute sales to the value of $25 million per year. They sell to many national retailers.
Angela's father immigrated from the Netherlands and the 2 of them started the company in 1996. It produces potatoes on 2,000 acres located in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, California, and Washington and processes the crop in a packing plant located in Edmonton (the American acreage is needed to provide year round product). They emply 85 people. 90% of sales goes to retailers, 10% to food service. Their product is various varieties of specialty potaoes - all under 41 mm - the Creamer category. They are the largest company in the world dealing with this type of potato. Although they do sell a small amount of private label product, they prefer to promote brand awareness and supply creamer potatoes in 1-1/2, 2, 3 and 5 pound bags.
There is a niche market - no peeling needed - convenient to use, with improved taste and a little bit of increased nutrition. The potato started small when it was first discovered in South America, but with the move to Europe, breeding moved to produce larger, starchy potatoes. Now the consumer wants the added value of the convenience of smaller with less time and procedures needed to prepare for a meal. The company provides a firm price for the year - there is no commodity pricing - so growers know what their revenue will be on an annual basis.
The company is researching ways to use the entire crop by developing new products to use reject potatoes. The creamers produce 40 to 60 potatoes per plant while the larger potatoes, such as Russet and Yukon Gold, produce 8 to 15 per plant. Challenges include the fact that few people in their company know the processes to grow quality creamer potatoes so the company has to embark on an employee training program. Another challenge is that 40% of their market is now in the east and they need to start the planning to develop a plant and crop acreage closer to that market - freight is becoming a significant cost factor.
Mike thanked the speaker.