Employee’s farming background makes for creative solutions.
Nic Sakuma, Operations Manager, didn’t know he was preparing for his career in cold storage at the age of 6.
Growing up on a farm, Sakuma picked fruit and berries for his family’s business. Needing a place for cold storage and transport, his family had a long-term relationship with Bellingham Cold Storage since 1997. “I’d been to BCS before and met many of the employees that are still here today, I was just on the other side of the business,” he said.
Nic Sakuma with his grandfather riding a forklift.
He eventually moved onto food processing, steering away from farming and
pursuing his own path. He’s been at BCS for two years, and will be starting his
third season.
Coming from a farmer’s background, Sakuma has lived and breathed the
customer experience. With a deep understanding of the needs of agricultural
processing and cold storage, he’s been able to find thoughtful solutions that
benefit clients and their partners.
As BCS continues to grow in their Bellingham, Orchard, and Stanwood
locations, Nic is dedicated to finding innovative solutions for his clients. Some
clients have been around for 5, 10, even 40 years. This has created opportunities
to innovate outdated systems. With all his clients, Nic is asking, “Was
there a good reason for this custom process, or can we streamline it and put it
back in line with what we’re doing everywhere else?” Recently, Nic worked with
long-time client King and Prince Seafood to update their lotting system for
better organization of their inventory.
Photography provided by the Sakuma brothers.
“The more you know, the easier it is to find solutions to help everyone. Often you can move beyond what the client is directly asking for to suggest better solutions that meet common goals,” Sakuma said.
The best source of knowledge is experience, this is why Nic has great insight
into challenges that affect farmers. “The more you know, the easier it is to
find solutions to help everyone. Often you can move beyond what the client
is directly asking for to suggest better solutions that meet common goals,”
Sakuma said.
If you’re looking to expand in the US, we have space.
Contact Jose Roques at bcsmarketing@bellcold.com