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Torizon leans on produce background for logistics solutions

Originally published in FreshPlaza (www.freshplaza.com) on July 15, 2013

TORONTO, ON - Torizon's origins as a logistics company are in the produce industry. Under the aegis of their predecessor, Gambles, the logistics know-how was honed, and now they're using that expertise to branch out to a wider range of industries.

The present-day Gambles was founded nearly 25 years ago as an importer, distributor and wholesaler of fresh produce. Based in Toronto, they have a 65,000 ft2  cold storage/distribution facility, in addition to 35,000 ft2 of selling/storage space out of the Ontario Food Terminal. Throughout the years, customers with whom they'd established long relationships began asking about added-value services, and through working on those services for customers, that side of the business grew. It was six years ago that Gambles decided to spin off the added-value services portion of the company into its own entity, and Torizon was formed. But as Tom Kioussis pointed out, Torizon's origins give it an edge.

“The nature of the produce business has made Torizon extremely sensitive to time,” said Kioussis. “Fresh produce is perishable, so they've had to become time experts.” As Torizon expands their logistics business into new sectors, that ability to quickly move goods has served them well.

“As we move into different industries, we're delivering on the same schedule as if we were moving fruits and vegetables,” said Torizon's Joshua Rosen. But the lessons learned from the produce business extend beyond making sure to deliver shipments before they're no longer fresh. Because the produce industry is highly seasonal, there are ebbs and flows to the entire business. Strategies to deal with those fluctuations have been useful for Torizon beyond fruits and vegetables.

“The biggest challenge with produce is the seasonality,” said Rosen. “So we're developing programs for our large customers that average costs over a 12 or 24 month term to take advantage of in season and off season rate fluctuations. He explained that this approach helps them stabilize costs for them, their drivers and their clients.

“We have containers coming from all over the world, every day,” said Rosen. “We've been doing this a long time, so our experience is a big difference between us and other companies.”

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For more information please contact:
Randy Steinberg - President
Torizon Logistics Inc.
randy@gotorizon.com
416-259-9498
www.gotorizon.com