ACC’s Span Elite Acquires Arctic Harvest Deliveries - Alaska Business Magazine
Byers says she got the idea for Arctic Harvest, founded in 2015, after Delicious Day shut down around 2013. “When I started off, I had no idea how big it would get,” she says. Delicious Day had focused on. . .
Byers says she got the idea for Arctic Harvest, founded in 2015, after Delicious Day shut down around 2013. “When I started off, I had no idea how big it would get,” she says. Delicious Day had focused on wholesale customers like local restaurants, but Byers soon found a market with individual customers. The business really took off after she added the farm share program. By around year eight, the business started grossing $1 million in annual revenue. Near the ten-year mark, Byers realized the business needed leadership that could “really take it to the next level. ”Since acquiring the business, ACC has “consciously tried to not do anything major,” Walker says. During the first year, he wants to focus on understanding Arctic Harvest’s operations throughout the various seasons. “We need to make sure we can fulfill the needs we have today,” he says, before considering any bigger changes. On a smaller scale, ACC is trying some different products in Arctic Harvest’s online store, a maneuver Walker says it’s easier for a large company to do, financially. “We have the added benefit of having stores, so if we have extra product, we can ship it out to some of our closer stores,” he says. “People are happy to see we’re sort of experimenting with some of the product mix. ”Over the years, Byers has built relationships with other Alaska-based producers like Barnacle Foods, Alaska Pasta Company, and Fresh International Gardens to offer a range of shelf-stable and pantry items. To round out the offerings in weeks with less Alaska-grown produce, Arctic Harvest imports fruits and vegetables, mostly through Organically Grown Company. While Arctic Harvest continues to operate out of its Potter Drive warehouse for now, ACC plans to consolidate operations in its Anchorage warehouse near the airport, once work finishes on a refrigeration unit.