The People Behind EFI: West Mathison Confident That His Team Is Addressing Issues and Embracing Opportunity
West Mathison is part of the fifth generation of Mathison family farmers and the current president of Stemilt Growers, which aims to cultivate people and delight consumers. Stemilt Growers earned its first EFI certification earlier this year and has committed to certifying the rest of its operations in 2021.
We talked with Mathison about why social certifications are important to the fresh produce industry and how EFI has brought value to his operation.
Why is a social certification important for fresh produce companies?
Investing in the training and development of our people is extremely important and valuable – we invest in it, just as we do in fertilizing our trees.
In the agricultural community, we all have the intention of providing a good environment for our workforce out in the field and in our processing facilities. The challenge is that we come to work with all different backgrounds, cultures and languages. How do we create collaboration and a work environment where people can come to work and be able to focus on work, not necessarily on the politics or other unhealthy aspects that might exist?
EFI has helped us bridge those differences and build a collaborative effort where our intention is the reality out in the farms and in our facilities throughout our organization.
“The EFI program ensures that we get on top of things before they become a problem and that we take advantage of opportunities when someone in the field has a good idea.”
– West Mathison, President, Stemilt Growers
What advice would you give another company that is seeking out a social certification?
As an industry, let’s think about it in the context of food safety certifications. When food safety certifications became an everyday part of our operation, it was clear that it was a change for the better. It helped us be more consistent and greatly attuned to the areas of food safety.
I will admit that I was a bit cynical at first around social certifications. At Stemilt, we pride ourselves on creating a good working environment and team culture. How would a social certification help us check the box on that?
But as we’ve worked with EFI to create a collective strategy, it’s become clear that the social certification does the same thing as the food safety certifications – it ensures that you are disciplined in working on teamwork and communication. In our industry, we face a lot of risks, and we need to engage everyone to come up with the best solutions and the best circumstance to produce the best quality fruit.
What impact do you see social certification having on your operation?
First, when your team members are in an environment where they get to exercise their creativity and there is good teamwork, flavor and quality are always going to be better. It helps ensure that everyone is tuned into what makes good and bad quality.
Second, when something unforeseen happens, we want to ensure that the issue is addressed quickly and effectively so that we can stay focused on doing good business and growing great quality fruit.
What strengths has EFI brought to your operation?
Stemilt’s relationship with EFI has been a journey. We have been working with them for over four years to begin to understand how the dynamics of culture, training, teamwork and communication all come together. I’m really pleased with the result of our journey and where we are going.
The EFI Program has given our team the skills and training they need to exercise their good ideas and to ensure that we create an environment where those ideas are heard and acknowledged.
We have a wide variety of team members – some who are really good at leadership, management and teamwork and others who are in a development process. But EFI helps equip a broad group of people working among all those teams, with the skills to bring up issues effectively. The EFI Program ensures that we get on top of things before they become a problem and that we take advantage of opportunities when someone in the field has a good idea.
Written by: LeAnne R. Ruzzamenti, Director of Marketing Communications, EFI
