GREENWOOD ASSOCIATES

"Greenwood Associates is a family-owned, value-added commodity re-seller of processed fruit and vegetable juice concentrates, juices, purees, essences & oils. Greenwood specializes in customizing products in a variety of ways to meet the specific needs of its customers. Chicago Processed Fruit Group (CPFG) is a commonly-controlled, FSSC22000-certified affiliate that functions as Greenwood’s manufacturing arm. Today, the companies are headquartered together in Niles, Illinois. Greenwood was founded in 1974 by Len Kaplan, who’d been a buyer at ReaLemon in Chicago and the General Manager at Golden Crown in Evanston, Illinois. The company’s first office was located in Mr. Kaplan’s house, which was on Greenwood Avenue. That’s how the company got its name. At that time Mr. Kaplan was the only employee. For the first several years of its existence, Greenwood performed mainly as a sales agent, connecting processors directly with end-users. In the late 1970’s, Greenwood began working with a co-packer, which furthered its ability to meet its customers’ ever-growing needs for customized products and services. As the years went by, the company continued to grow in this configuration, focusing on anticipating and meeting its customers’ needs in a rapidly-changing environment."