The Wonderful Company

The Wonderful Company LLC, formerly known as Roll Global, is a private corporation based in Los Angeles, California. With revenues of over $4 billion,[2] it functions as a holding company for Stewart and Lynda Resnick and as such is a vehicle for their personal investments in a number of businesses. The company currently counts the following brands as business divisions: juice company POM Wonderful, bottled water company FIJI Water, Wonderful Pistachios and Wonderful Almonds, Wonderful Halos, JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery, Landmark Vineyards and Winery, JNSQ Wines, flower delivery service Teleflora, and in-house marketing agency Wonderful Agency.

The Wonderful Company
FormerlyRoll Global
TypePrivate
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California
RevenueUS$4 billion
Number of employees
9,000[1]
Websitewonderful.com

History

As the current incarnation of the Resnicks' holding company, The Wonderful Company has a number of predecessors. The Resnicks first bought Teleflora and API Alarm Systems in 1979, at which time Lynda left her advertising job to become Teleflora's executive vice president of marketing, and eventually president, securing flagship TV sponsorship roles which grew the company into the nation's largest floral wire service.[3] In 1986, they purchased The Franklin Mint, known for making model cars, souvenir plates, figurines, and Civil War-inspired chess sets. Stewart Resnick served as CEO and Chairman of the Franklin Mint Company until its sale to a private equity group in 2006.[4] In 1989 the Resnicks formed Paramount Farms to begin growing and harvesting pistachios and almonds in California's Central Valley. In 1993, the Resnicks renamed the holding company Roll International (later Roll Global) and continued to expand their portfolio of complementary businesses in food and beverages. As of June 1, 2015, Roll Global changed its name to The Wonderful Company.[2]

Brands

As of January 2019, the following brands are among those of The Wonderful Company and its subsidiaries:[5]

POM Wonderful

In 2002, the Resnicks founded POM Wonderful. The company's main product is pomegranate juice, which is sold in a trademark "double-bulb" bottle. The company also packages and sells POM POMS fresh pomegranate arils as well as fresh pomegranates.[6] The company also sells a variety of pomegranate flavored teas.[7] In 2017, POM Wonderful acquired the pomegranate distributor Ruby Fresh.[8]

FIJI Water

The Resnicks acquired the FIJI Water business in 2004, after which Lynda supervised marketing that focused on promoting the uniqueness and exotic nature of the water. According to Resnick's book, sales of Fiji Water soon increased by 300%,[9] and in 2008 it became the largest imported bottled water brand in the US.[10]

Wonderful Halos

In 2013, the Resnicks launched Wonderful Halos mandarins, with a $220 million facility in the San Joaquin Valley capable of processing 19 million mandarins a day.[11] By 2017 Halos was the #1 segment brand, forecast to have around 70-80% market share by 2018.[12] In 2017, Halos accounted for around three-quarters of growth in the mandarin category, and 12% of total produce sales growth.[11]

Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds

Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds is the world’s largest vertically integrated pistachio and almond grower and processor, cultivating and harvesting more than 65,000 acres of pistachio and almond orchards and delivering more than 450 million pounds of nuts globally each year.[13] Known for its Get Crackin’ campaign, Wonderful Pistachios was the US's fastest-growing snack brand and the number-one tree nut brand in 2018.[14]

Wonderful Sweet Scarletts

A variety of red grapefruit known for its sweetness, The Wonderful Company’s Sweet Scarletts brand has been grown and packed in South Texas since 2014 and distributed to grocery stores nationwide.[15]

JUSTIN Wines

In 2010 the Resnicks purchased Justin Vineyards and Winery, a 50,000 case-production winery in California's Central Coast region founded in 1981.[16]

Landmark Wines

Acquired in 2011, Landmark Wines is a Sonoma County vineyard specializing in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah.[17]

JNSQ Wines

In 2019, the Resnicks launched a female-focused luxury wine brand, JNSQ (named for the French phrase "je ne sais quoi").[18] JNSQ Rosé Cru and JNSQ Sauvignon Blanc made their debut alongside the Fall/Winter 2019 collection from California-born designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, who brought their show to Los Angeles (instead of New York Fashion Week) on February 5th.[19]

Teleflora

The Resnicks purchased Teleflora in 1979,[9] at which time Lynda left her advertising job to become the company's executive vice president of marketing and eventually president. In 2019, Teleflora had over 13,000 member florists throughout the U.S. and Canada, with an additional 20,000 affiliated florists outside North America, making it the largest privately held floral wire service in the world.[20][21]

Controversy

The Wonderful Company has been criticized for its aggressive consumption of water in the drought ridden state of California. The company has expanded its business even as California residents have faced water shortages and the water ecosystem has been irreversibly damaged.[22] Residents of the Central Valley, while the target of the company's charitable giving, suffer from an acute water crisis. It is also claimed that the company lobbies to privatize the state's water and funds opposition research on the impact of farming on the drought.[22][23]

The Wonderful Company has been able to expand their agricultural operations through their ownership of the Kern Water Bank.[24] The Kern Water Bank is a man-made underground reservoir in the Central Valley.[25] The Department of Water Resources spent $74 million building the water bank, and it is the largest of its kind, capable of holding one million acre-feet of water.[23] Through what some source have called backroom negotiations, in 1994 the water bank was transferred from the public to the private ownership of the Resnick's.[23] It was passed from the Department of Water Resources to the Kern County Water Authority, and from there to the Kern Water Bank Authority. The Kern Water Bank Authority consists of four water districts and a private company, Westside Mutual.[25] Westside is a shell corporation owned by Paramount Farming which is a subsidiary of The Wonderful Company.[25] It is primarily through Westside that the Resnicks own 57% of the Water Bank.[26] News outlets, academic papers, and advocacy groups have criticized The Wonderful Company for its possession of what was originally meant to be a public asset, and the monetary benefit they have gained through it.[22]

References
  1. "The Wonderful Company :: THE WONDERFUL COMPANY EMERGES AS FASTEST GROWING CPG COMPANY".
  2. "Who We Are". The Wonderful Company. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. "History of Roll International Corporation – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  4. "starbulletin.com | Business | /2006/10/18/". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  5. "The Wonderful Company :: INTRODUCING THE WONDERFUL COMPANY™: HARVESTING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS AROUND THE WORLD". www.wonderful.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-12.
  6. "Hitting the Shelves: A Twist on Energy Drinks -- February 2009". www.preparedfoods.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  7. "POM Wonderful – POM Products". pomwonderful.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  8. "Pom Wonderful acquires Ruby Fresh". Packer. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  9. Resnick, Lynda (2009). Rubies in the orchard : how to uncover the hidden gems in your business. Wilkinson, Francis. (1st ed.). New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385525787. OCLC 231162843.
  10. Walker, Rob (2008-06-01). "Water Proof - Fiji Water - Consumed - Rob Walker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  11. "The big rollout". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  12. "U.S.: Wonderful Company sees sky-high growth as strategy pays off". FreshFruitPortal.com. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  13. "Wonderful Pistachios - Healthy Snackin - Get Crackin". www.getcrackin.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  14. "What the Fastest-Growing CPG Companies Do Differently". bcg.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  15. "Wonderful Sweet Scarletts Make a Sweet Arrival in Stores Nationwide". www.businesswire.com. 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  16. "Justin Vineyards Sold to Fiji Water". Wine Enthusiast Magazine. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  17. "Fiji Water's Owners Buy Sonoma's Landmark Vineyards | News | News & Features | Wine Spectator". WineSpectator.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  18. "Inspired by Musical Films, the Fall 2019 Rodarte Show Draws a Starry Crowd". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  19. Oster, Erik (February 14, 2019). "How The Wonderful Company Created a Wine Brand for Millennial Rosé Lovers in Under a Year". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  20. "At Teleflora, AI Helps Tell The Flowers From The Weeds". DMNews.com. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  21. "Flowers | Flower Delivery | Send Flowers Online | Teleflora". www.teleflora.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  22. "Meet the California couple who uses more water than every home in Los Angeles combined". Mother Jones. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  23. Gibler, John. "Lost in the Valley of Excess". Earth Island Journal.
  24. Arax, Mark (2003-12-19). "Massive Farm Owned by L.A. Man Uses Water Bank Conceived for State Needs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  25. Gibler, John. “Water Heist - How Corporations Are Cashing in on California Water.” Public Citizen, https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/water_heist_lo-res.pdf
  26. Sorvino, Chloe (May 23, 2023). "Amid Drought, Billionaires Control A Critical California Water Bank". Forbes. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
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