Paul Moyer is the co-owner of Moyers Apple Products and Clean Works with Court Holdings Ltd. Mark VanderVeen is the president of Clean Works and president of Court Holdings Manufacturing.
Successful companies are rarely due to one person. They usually involve a team or partnership where people work together, each bringing their skills and experience to the table. Mr. VanderVeen was president of a company that oversees and monitors businesses in the manufacturing sector. He had spent 24 years as an executive in the auto industry. He has an MBA and has worked all over the world.
Knowing how to grow apples is important, but so is getting them to market. One thing I learned in this relationship is you don’t jump off the tractor and find orders from the head office of Loblaws on your desk. It takes hard work. And I also learned some other things from building a successful partnership with Mr. VanderVeen.
After an opportunity developed for selling lots of product to a large customer, Mr. VanderVeen and two of his shareholders helped us launch our new entity. With their keen talents and razor-sharp business acumen, we got capitalized, bought a building and equipment, and started filling customer orders.
Leveraging my experience with food products and Mr. VanderVeen’s problem-solving ability in manufacturing, we were able to develop a process for cleaning fresh fruit and produce without water. This was revolutionary in the agri-food business. Water had always been the way to go but is only 50 per cent effective in removing pathogens and moulds. In fact, water can carry and transport pathogens and can even contaminate the containers that hold food products.