Red River Foods and Gold Harbor Commodities, Inc. were sister companies. As importers of similar products, both companies officially merged in January 2018. Gold Harbor Commodities is now operating as a Red River Foods office in Seattle.

Gold Harbor Commodities is an international trading company specializing in the import and export of natural foods. Established as a US exporter of fresh fruits and vegetables, the business has become a leading importer of dehydrated fruits, seeds, edible nuts, specialty snack foods, and food ingredients. Gold Harbor sells to a wide spectrum of the food industry from wholesalers, importers, retailers, club stores, and food manufactures.When the founder and President of Gold Harbor retired in 2015, I stepped into the role of running the company. As Senior Vice President, I vet and manage suppliers; direct new product development; and manage the company’s supply chains.Under my leadership, we developed our own consumer package brands, sold new products/programs to key customers, and opened new distribution channels. I manage programs from sales and procurement to order fulfillment. By understanding each customer’s unique requirements, I guide projects from product customization to package design, pricing, compliance, and production / shipment planning. I develop new suppliers, and coach them through food safety and social responsibility audit challenges. This expands our supplier base, and ensures that all of our customer’s requirements are met.Working closely with R&D managers, buyers, and QA managers, I help sell new products to national food manufactures and club store accounts. I travel overseas with buyers, give in-depth supply chain presentations, and provide market reports to educate customers on our products.

My work as Operations Manager expanded the business in new areas for Gold Harbor. I designed, developed, implemented, and managed a national distribution network for imported products for several club store programs. The success of these programs opened new opportunities for the company to sell private label consumer packaged goods. Taking a hands-on approach, I became an expert in both our products and supply chains. Understanding the challenges of each product, from the orchard / field through manufacturing and distribution, allowed me to proactively manage risks and address problems with customers (including consumer complaints).I wrote standard operating procedures, codified trading policies, oversaw company IT / systems, and worked closely with suppliers to improve efficiencies.I gathered and organized a wide range of internal data to analyze customer and product performance. My management reports highlighted export opportunities, assessed customer performance, and focused on cost and risk reduction. This information guided our export business through the global recession.

As Traffic Manager, I oversaw Gold Harbor’s import, export, and domestic logistics. (Air, ocean, and truck.) I managed the flow of information, documentation, shipping, and vendor relationships for the company. Working closely with our sales staff, I helped open new export markets in India, Bangladesh, the Middle East, and South America for our fresh produce department.I improved delivery reliability, handled risk management for perishable shipments, priced products, and maintained competitive costs. When claims occurred, I recovered greater than 90% of losses from suppliers and insurance carriers.My meticulous attention to detail, accuracy, efficiency, and cost effective solutions won over many customers. When our export Traders were out of the office or left the company, I stepped in and continued the business. I often assumed responsibility for purchasing, quality verification, and sales. By focusing intensely on our customer’s needs, and adapting to fast changing situations, I helped the company thrive in disparate businesses from parallel trade, to perishable produce exports, third country trade, and brokerage.

Daito Corporation is a leading port operator in Japan. In the 1990’s, Daito Corporation established of a freight forwarding division (Due International). I was recruited to help open and run the Seattle office.Building on the ocean export business of our launch customer (CGC Japan: a large grocery store chain), we expanded our services to include door-to-door logistics from North America to Japan. I researched niche markets, and targeted companies that would benefit from door-to-door service. Then I designed customized freight solutions, set prices, and sold new accounts. The value added services I implemented (airfreight, NVOCC, warehousing, freight consolidation, and import handling) landed new customers in industries ranging from food ingredients, to lumber & building materials, medical devices, and large industrial break bulk cargo. With constant attention to solving the challenges of our customers, I became a trusted partner in their supply chain. These relationships lead to referrals, and opened opportunities to help clients work through regulatory issues to ship new products overseas.

A division of Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Logistics provides international shipping services for mid-size and multinational companies. The Seattle office specialized in agricultural commodities, food & beverage, and large industrial projects.Air / Ocean Export AgentI joined Mitsubishi Logistics to run the airfreight department in Seattle. I negotiated rates, set prices, and managed shipments ranging from computer peripherals, to foodstuffs, fish, and fresh meat. As a member of the ocean export team, I helped service of some of the world’s leading beverage brands (Coca Cola Japan, Kirin, & Sapporo Beer) with timely shipments of raw materials and packaging. My focus on problem solving, accuracy, schedule reliability, cost control (freight audits), and customer service, helped the company retain customers and build new business in a highly competitive freight market.

In the 1980's and 1990's, Japan was one of the world's leading exporters. Airfreight from Japan was expensive, cargo space was limited, and ocean transits to Seattle were fast (9 days). This combination of factors created the Sea-Air business. Cargo was shipped by ocean from Japan to Seattle, transferred under customs bond to the airport (same day as arrival), and airfreighted to Central America, Europe, and West Africa the next day. I was in charge of the U.S. logistics for this program.My responsibilities included:*Negotiating space, routing, and rates with airlines.*Managing container drayage, de-consolidation, and airport handling agents.*Filing In-Transit bonds with U.S. Customs.*Communication with Japanese offices.I also handled perishable airfreight shipments (fresh fruit & seafood), and frozen food exports to Japan by ocean.