Hillsboro company brings back former name

No longer a sign of the times:  With the name change back to Barkman Honey Co., this sign outside the company?s honey-process plant in the Hillsboro Industrial Park?and other vestiges of the ?Golden Heritage Foods? name?will not be around much longer. The change back to the company?s former name took effect Nov. 29.Hillsboro?s largest industrial employer has been making several changes to its operation in recent weeks.

The honey processor known for nearly 12 years as Golden Heritage Foods Inc. has changed its name back to Barkman Honey Co., effective Nov. 29.

The company also opened a marketing office in Wichita this month and is planning a plant expansion in Hillsboro for spring.

Brent Barkman, owner and chairman of the board, said going back to the family name was a logical move now that the company is centralized again in Hillsboro.

In 2002, Barkman Honey Co. became Golden Heritage Foods LLC when it combined its operations with Stoller?s Honey in Latty, Ohio, to become the nation?s third-largest honey processor.

?We had put together a partnership with Dwight Stoller out of Ohio back in 2001,? Barkman said. ?Two years ago we purchased his shares back, and it all came back to family ownership. So we decided it was best to go back to the family name.?

Client response

Barkman said the change was has been well-received in the industry.

?Producers around the country sort of knew us yet as Barkman Honey Co., and they were excited we were going to back to it,? he said.

?Our customers like to know that they?re dealing with a family business. That?s a good thing. Our suppliers like to know that, too.?

Barkman said the decision ?seemed like the right thing to do.?

?Our quality is what we sell out there,? he said. ?Our customers know our quality, and if we?re willing to put our name on it, that?s a sign that the quality?s going to be good.?

Branding the family name should make the company more recognizable.

?Golden Heritage Foods was a good name when we had a partnership because it didn?t point to any single entity as owner,? Barkman said. ?That?s kind of why we came up with the name Golden Heritage Foods when we put our companies together.

?It was a good name, but it never really took hold,? he added. ?It was something we never put on our labels. At the time, we had visions of doing more than just honey, but I think we?ve decided we?re going to do what we do best.?

Wichita office

Last Tuesday, Barkman Honey Co. officially opened its sales and marketing office at 37th and Rock Road in Wichita. Barkman cited access to air travel and employee recruitment as key reasons.

?We deal with a lot of big companies around the country, and part of the decision to have a Wichita office was that it has easy access to the airport. It?s nice having a place when our clients come in that isn?t an hour away.?

Barkman said most candidates for marketing and sales positions prefer to live in an urban setting.

?It?s hard to get people to move to Hillsboro, Kan.,? he said

Another advantage will be enlarging the boundaries of the recruitment pool.

?One of the challenges we have here in Hillsboro is that if we want somebody with the right caliber of talent for that kind of job, we either have to steal them or bring them in,? Barkman said.

?I have to live with the other business owners in this community,? he added. ?So I don?t really like to go out prospecting at other businesses here.?

Plant addition

Barkman said the rest of the company will remain in Hillsboro. In fact, the company is planning to add 37,000 square feet of warehouse space to its plant in spring.

?Unfortunately, that won?t be adding a lot of jobs, but it will be necessary,? he said. ?We?ve been growing, and we?ve actually been renting warehouse space in Newton and McPherson for the last couple of years.

?We just decided to get a little bit less of that trucking going?running around and hauling product back and forth.?

Barkman Honey Co. currently employees between 75 and 80 people, according to Barkman. It?s status as the country?s third-largest honey processor may be changing soon?if it hasn?t already.

?I don?t get too excited about all that stuff, but I would say we are closing in on the top packaging company in the United States,? Barkman said.

Amid the changes, one thing has remained constant over the years.

?We have our core values and our principles that we run the company by, and they?ve been with us for quite a long time,? Barkman said. ?It?s always just increasing our territory of influence because it?s God?s business. We?re just here to run it for him.?

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