Pioneer Organics spreads gospel of natural goods

Ronny Bell talks like a businessman, but he has the soul of a tree-hugger, and that dichotomy makes him uniquely suited for the business he's in: home delivery of organic food.

The idea for his company, Pioneer Organics, came to him in a potato field in 1996. If not exactly a Scarlett O'Hara moment, it was a revelation of sorts for the then 24-year-old, who had bartered his labor in return for some of the farm's organic produce, which he then wholesaled to select Seattle restaurants.

Digging potatoes confirmed Bell's conviction that he wasn't meant to be a farmer even as it reinforced his zeal for spreading the gospel of organic food.

"I thought: There has got to be a way to get this stuff directly to people," he says. That's when the light bulb went on in his head. Before farmers markets and community-supported agriculture programs became widespread, before the advent of HomeGrocer.com, Bell had the idea for a service that would bring good food right to peoples' doors. By the end of that growing season, he had given up restaurant wholesaling to concentrate on home delivery instead.

Company's early days

He started with six customers and a truck. By the end of the first year he was making 70 deliveries a week. At the end of year two, he took on a partner, his cousin Michael Knight, who injected capital and became the company's financial executive. Soon they acquired a warehouse, drivers, office staff.

Today the company employs 40 people and 10 Pioneer Organics trucks that deliver 2,500 orders a week in the Seattle area. Eighteen months ago, they began servicing the Portland market.

Growing up on New York's Long Island, Bell knew early on that he wanted to run a company. Food entrepreneurs run in the family. His maternal grandfather, Leonard Pines, started Hebrew National (now part of ConAgra); his father, George Bell, owns a pickle and meat-processing company in Florida.

As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bell pursued environmental history, studying how to make restaurants more environmentally responsible and volunteering on local organic farms. His entrepreneurial instincts merged with ecological concerns, and he became a passionate advocate for organics.

Key contacts in Seattle

What drew him to Seattle was a short-lived chain of healthy fast-food franchises called SunSpot. "I figured I could run that company in no time," says Bell.

SunSpot fizzled, but he liked Seattle enough to stay and began developing the contacts he needed to wholesale quality organic produce to restaurants, a business he had dabbled in earlier in Wisconsin and New York. That's how he met Andrew Stout and Wendy Monroe, who had just started Full Circle Farm, where Bell experienced his potato-field epiphany.

Full Circle is now a key supplier to Pioneer Organics, which relies as much as possible on locally grown produce. "We will bend (our margins) to make that happen," says Bell.

"Why? Because I know the growers, I know where (the food) comes from, the energy to get it here was a lot less, and it supports my local economy, my community." But when local products aren't available, he buys from large wholesalers and distributors. Either way "the quality of the produce always comes first."

Pioneer's peak season doesn't exactly coincide with the prime local growing season. "January through May is our sweet spot," says Bell. "In the fall, holidays disrupt customer's routines and in summer we compete with vacations and farmer's markets."

Though clearly competing for the same customers, Bell views the farmer's markets that have burgeoned in recent years as allies in the same crusade. "I like to think the markets turn people on to organic food. I never complain when someone drops our service to go to markets. It's all about supporting the farmers." He notes that last year the company grew a healthy 16 percent and their summer drop-off rate was the smallest they've ever experienced.

Pioneer's goods

What do Pioneer customers get? During a typical week this winter, boxes included gala apples, red onions, Concord pears, red potatoes, carnival squash, mixed braising greens, mangoes, bananas, satsumas, spinach, broccoli and tomatoes.

A newsletter tucked into each order offered recipes plus storing and ripening tips.

Prices range from $31 to $50 for a small, medium or large variety box that holds 14 to 16 kinds of fruits and vegetables. A smaller convenience size ($24) contains 10 to 12 items. Customers can create exclusion and substitution lists, specifying particular produce they don't want and what they'd like instead, but otherwise, they get whatever Pioneer has in stock. If anything arrives in less than optimum condition, Pioneer promises to make up the value of the item on the next delivery.

Produce drives the company, but grocery items are available as add-ons.

Pioneer stocks meat, fish and dairy products; soy products; bread, pasta, cereal and rice; nuts and spices; coffee and tea; canned soups, beans and tomatoes; salsas, dressings and spreads; baby food, snacks, dish soap, even bath salts.

The range of products is indicative of the direction Bell hopes to take his company. In his vision, Pioneer Organics is a vehicle that will "turn people on to healthy living" and support "healthy homes." To that end, he is contemplating running cooking and nutrition classes in various neighborhoods. "As much as I see us as a produce company, I also see us as a lifestyle company."

Typical workday

Bell's workday starts early. The warehouse crew starts showing up at 5 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the trucks are setting off on their appointed rounds. Workers pick and pack orders, moving briskly with lists in hand from bin to bin, shelf to shelf, much as you would shop in a grocery store. They check the produce carefully, culling any that are damaged to be donated to the needy or composted. Back in Bell's office, the mood is more laid back.

When office manager Alexis Allen arrives for work with her 4-month-old daughter, Stella, Bell stops for a moment to coo at the infant.

A self-described "neurotic New Yorker," Bell admits, "The first five years of Pioneer Organics are a blur." Up until two years ago, he was still packing boxes in the warehouse. Then he made a conscious decision to step back and make himself slow down. He hired an office manager and a warehouse manager so he could pay some attention to life outside the job. He bought a house, and once a week he plays hockey to relax. Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com