Best of Ceres
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
17
VOTED BEST PRIN TER
Val l ey Pri nti ng serv i ng area si nc e 1 9 5 9 • 85 percent of its customers are printing ag product labels By JEFF BENZIG ER Editor of the
Ceres (Calif.) Courier
V
ALLEY PRINTING, WHICH WAS NAMED BEST PRINT/COPY SHOP in Ceres, has earned a sterling reputation since it began in Ceres in 1959. Robert “Bob” Wix started the business after learning how to print on the Heidelberg printing press in San Francisco. Wix then settled in Ceres where his father came from in search of work from Peoria, Ill. Bob Wix opened up his shop then was located on Fifth Street near what later became the Fifth Street Plaza. In the 1960s the business moved to its current location at 2140 Pine Street. Wix has since moved to the Twain Harte area and operates Gold Rush Printing in Sonora while son Kevin Wix manages the Ceres shop. Kevin’s son Kris Wix is carrying on in the business. An estimated 85 percent of Valley Printing’s business is producing labels, mostly for agricultural products. “We still do all the other stuff that prints on paper,” said Kevin Wix. “If it prints on paper we’re capable of doing, especially with the digital world now.” An example of work prepared by the graphics team and printed in Ceres is the Tuolumne County Historical Society newsletter, CHISPA. Valley Printing is a place where many local businesses go to print business cards, circulars, invoices, letter head, and more. But for the most part, Valley Printing is one of those low-key businesses that does a lot of business quietly. “Most people when they walk in don’t realize what’s going on back there,” said Wix. Print runs can run from 6,000 to three million, said Kevin Wix. There is little competition for label printing. “Most of these guys got out of California,” said Wix. “They thought it was too expensive to be here. Most people went over to Sparks (Nevada). My dad was really good friends with one of the big printers in the Midwest and he kind of helped my dad get the label thing started here but they moved their facility to Sparks just to get across the border. But they haven’t been that successful over there. We’re established here right how so it’s not that big a deal. I would hate to re-establish in this state; it would be tough.” Pacific Coast Producers in Lodi is one of Valley Printing’s biggest customers. They also print labels for Seneca Foods across the river in Modesto. Labels printed in Ceres also end up on cans from San Benito Foods of Hollister and Teasdale Foods in Atwater. “Those guys are ordering for everybody under the sun – from the Walmarts to Targets. They’re in control of the labels so they get to order where they’re doing business.” It would be safe to say that there are cans of Kris Wix operates a computer controlling a press at Valley Printing.
JEFF BENZIGER/Courier photo
Randy Lang sets up a plate in the Heidelberg Printing press at Valley Printing, 2140 Pine Street, Ceres. The press normally sees produce labeling jobs.
produce on the shelves of local markets that were printed in Ceres at Valley Printing. “If you can find an olive can – Pearls brand – you’ll find my label. If you go to Target, we print the Target version of the olive label, Great Value.” Valley Printing also does the labels for fruits canned at PCP of Lodi. The in-house shop has a graphics department which can make labels for specific regions or countries. Wix reached over and grabbed a Monarch label for fruit cocktail that goes to Seneca Foods and then ships out to Costa Rica.