Interview with Greg Pruett, CEO of Ingomar

Following the news of the acquisition of a majority of shares of the company by Kagome, we have interviewed Greg Pruett, CEO of Ingomar

Could you present yourself and your company?

Ingomar was founded in 1983 as the first primarily grower owned industrial aseptic tomato paste supplier in the US. Over the years, as the domestic and global remanufacturing markets expanded, Ingomar grew as well. We added a second factory in 2000 along with a bulk aseptic diced line – our current capacity is around 1,500,000 metric tons of raw tomatoes. Our location in the Los Banos area gives a good central access to the best farmers and tomato growing areas in the world. I have been running Ingomar's business for most of the last 40 years and my family's company has been the managing partner for most of that time as well. We, along with our 3 partners: John Bennett, Lee Del Don and Jon Maring, supply the majority of the tomatoes to our factories from our surrounding farms. This vertical integration has been good investment for us over time and provides our customers with the comfort of being supplied by a company that has control over its raw materials.

Could you tell us what will the Kagome deal bring to Ingomar and its future?

We established a relationship as a supplier to Kagome's US and Japanese operations around 20 years ago. Over that time frame we grew more confident in each other, which lead to a decision in 2016 to sell them a 20% equity interest in our business. Most recently, Kagome made the decision to purchase an additional 50%, giving them a majority interest in Ingomar. All of us grower partners are retaining ownership positions and will continue to supply the majority of the tomatoes to Ingomar's factories. I am also staying on as CEO.
Kagome brings many things to Ingomar including opportunities for product and process innovation, quality enhancements, and access to capital for expansion.

What is your view on the current situation of the California tomato processing industry?

I would describe it as healthy. After being quite concerned over the lateness of our 2023 crop, Mother Nature treated us kindly and we ended up with a good result for both processors and growers. Inventories have been built back to much safer levels than over the past few years and we've proven we can increase our average field yields, giving us to protection against future cost inflation and keeping us competitive. Recent reductions in processing capacity have also given us much better supply/demand balance than in previous periods. Our sales opportunities should be positive as the global population is still growing, as well as the demand for tomato products. As for challenges I see regulatory issues as being paramount along with the risks of losing market access due to tariffs, freight costs and relative currency rates. Overall I continue to be optimistic about California's future as a leader in the global tomato processing business.