C.H. Robinson Worldwide, which handles $10 billion in global cargo deliveries a year, is searching for growth in unusual places — apple orchards and orange groves.
Robinson, an Eden Prairie logistics company that matches shippers with transportation companies, is these days deeply involved in growing, inspecting, marketing and shipping fruits and vegetables that arrive in the store under popular brand names such as Mott's apples, Tropicana oranges and Welch's grapes.
The company got its start in 1905 delivering generic produce to grocery stores, but in the late 1990s began to ride the popularity of national brand-name produce that analysts say typically carries a 30 percent higher price than generic produce.
It's one example of Robinson's attempts to broaden its base so it can hit the 15 percent average annual revenue growth it has promised Wall Street. Last year, the company achieved 11.5 percent growth, creating uneasiness among analysts about its prospects.
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