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Photos by John rigg
CLOSE-UP
Consolidated Mills Inc.
By John rigg
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1Consolidated Mills uses about
42,000 square feet of warehouse
space for its operation
after acquiring the entire suite at
7190 Brittmoore.
2 Scott Vrana, president (left),
and Keith Vrana, executive vice
president, have owned and operated
the company for more than
three years.
When Consolidated Mills was first incorporated in
1962, the company’s focus was packaging and blending
spices and distributing canned jalapeño peppers to the
food service industry. Now, nearly 50 years later, brothers
Scott and Keith Vrana own and operate a much
more versatile operation that strives for exceptional
quality and customer service in the food and beverage
industry, said Keith Vrana, executive vice president.
The growing Northwest Houston company offers a
variety of manufacturing services including flavored
syrups for snow cones and slushes, bar mixers, specialty
sauces and salsas, peppers, and spices. They specialize
in food packaging, portion control, and both
wet and dry food blending, said Scott Vrana, president.
With recipes dating as far back as the 1930s, Consolidated
Mills also focuses on unique custom blends
and formulations for large and small production, Scott
Vrana said.
“Many of the items we produce are derived from
recipes our customers bring to us,” Scott Vrana said.
“For items we market ourselves, such as the salsas and
sauces for fundraising, it really is a joint effort.”
The recipes are taste-tested and tweaked until the
final product is reached.
“It’s really more of an art form than a science,” Keith
Vrana said.
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3 The company started out by
doing spice blending, but now
provides services for dozens of
customers’ recipes, including
spice mixes for Cy-Fair ISD.
4 Salsa Sells is a fundraising
initiative for businesses and
organizations. It began with the
donation of 400 cases of salsa
to the nonprofit Cy-Hope, raising
more than $12,000.
Consolidated Mills
7910 Brittmoore, Houston
713-896-4196
www.consolidatedmills.com
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5 Automatic liquid filling lines
complete with fillers, cappers,
labelers and coders is one of
the many tools Consolidated
Mills uses in the manufacturing,
blending and packaging
business.
impactnews.com • July 2012 | FEATURES | 21
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6 Flavored syrups for slushes
and snow cones account for
20% to 30% of Consolidated
Mills’ business. The company
recently began bottling and
manufacturing bar mixers.