Empire Foods The farm is located in the town of Empire, about 90 miles
northeast of Reno, NV. Empire Farms is a division of the
Empire Group, which also includes a storage and distribution
center in Sparks, NV.; a research division in Davis, Calif.;
and a geothermal resource plant in the San Emidio Valley
in Empire, NV. The Empire Group produces approximately 22 million pounds
of garlic seed and 27 million pounds of dehydrated garlic
and onions a year. The company, which posted nearly $45
million in gross production for 1999, is one of only five
companies in the United States that produces dehydrated
garlic and onions. It is the only company in Nevada -
and one of a few in the world - that produces virus-free
garlic seed. "Our soils freeze very hard in the winter, and there
is low bacteria counts in the soil,'' says Michael Stewart,
who founded Empire Farms in 1982. "We cultivate all
of our own products. We deal with all the major food and
spice manufacturers in the world.'' The dehydration facility in Empire, NV., uses geothermal
heat from an underground water source that is 307 degrees
Fahrenheit. Stewart says the natural heat is more evenly
produced and, as a result, the color in garlic and onions
after dehydration is better balanced. Besides using heat
for dehydration, the Empire Group also sells 35,000 megawatts
of geothermal power a year to the Sierra Pacific Power
Co. The Empire energy portion, Stewart says, generated $2,302,000
in revenue in 1999. The farm alone did $16,731,000 in
gross production in 1999. Four of the five producers of
garlic in the United States are located in California,
says Mike Ingram, facility manager for Empire Foods. Yet,
Empire sells its seed garlic to California because the
state's garlic isn't virus free. "We also get a higher yield (from the garlic bulb),''
Ingram says. "Nevada is becoming a major player in
the garlic seed industry." Empire Foods doesn't sell retail, opting instead to deal
on the industrial level with major producers of foods
and spices. Spain buys the company's garlic seed, as does
Germany and New Zealand. "We sell as much as 40,000
pounds at a time to industrial customers,'' Ingram says
while walking through Empire's 130,000 square-foot distribution
center in Sparks. The center is capable of storing 17 million dehydrated
pounds of onions and garlic, which is needed because the
plant in Empire produces approximately 90,000 pounds of
dehydrated garlic and onions a day. Ingram says Empire employs around 350 people during the
peak season of operation from July through October. Processing
is then done from May to January, he says. Stewart grew up in Yerington, NV., and graduated from
the University of Nevada in Reno with a degree in agriculture.
He hit on the idea of forming Empire Farms after noticing
that there wasn't any snow on a hill in Empire. NV. He
hired a geologist and soon discovered the underground
geothermal reservoir. "I bet the farm,'' Stewart says of the chance he
took in the beginning. Fortunately, for both him and the
state of Nevada, his intuition proved Fruitful. For more information, contact: The Empire Group, 1755
Purina Way, Sparks, NV. 89431. Phone: (775) 331-4111.
FAX: (775) 331-1576. Web Site: www.octanestudios.com/empire |
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