Who We Are
The FruitGuys was founded in the kitchen of Chris Mittelstaedt & Pia Hinckle’s one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco in 1998 with the idea to help companies provide healthy options to employees during their workday. Today we are one of the most trusted providers of farm-fresh fruit, produce, and snacks to businesses, homes, organizations, and schools across the country. We are still family-owned and operated and a proud certified B Corp on a mission connect people, nourish communities, and regenerate the planet.
1997
Chris Mittelstaedt is working at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel as a fax boy when his wife Pia gets pregnant. Luckily she has a real job. Chris has the idea to deliver fruit to dot-com companies from their 1-bedroom apartment.
Feb. 16, 1998
Our birthday! (We are an aquarius!) Our first delivery—by scooter and Honda Civic—from our North Beach apartment to businesses in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center. We hand-made wooden crates and stamped them with our home phone number.
1998
A friend gives us a free space in The Cannery at Fisherman’s Wharf to do production as long as we are gone by 7 a.m. Monday deliveries to San Francisco and Tuesday deliveries to Silicon Valley happen via a rented U-Haul truck.
1999
We lease production space from Gilt Edge Creamery in SOMA and purchase our first truck (a used truck from Boar’s Head) on which we put an “A” residential parking permit because we park it on the street by our house at night. Begin delivery of milk and other goods. First fruit donations to St. Anthony’s Dining Room in San Francisco. Our GoodWorks program is born!
2000
We crest $1M in sales! Move to bigger warehouse space in South San Francisco. Have twins! Buy five trucks from Webvan before they go under.
2001
Dot-com bubble bursts. Half our clients go out of business. I overhear someone say: “I can’t believe Red Gorilla didn’t make it.” I have to lay off half my employees. We barely stay in business.
2003
Start getting calls from transplanted ex-dot-com workers who want fruit shipped to them on the East Coast.
2007
Philadelphia facility opens to serve the East Coast. Establish relationships with local farms and source from them when in season for local deliveries.
2008
Ten years in business! Farm Steward Program begins with donated bees to Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, CA. (This program evolved into the nonprofit The FruitGuys Community Fund.)
2009
Chicago facility opens to serve the Midwest.
Farm-to-School Program launches, serving public schools in California.
Donate-a-Crate Program, allowing clients to forward their weekly fruit deliveries to local nonprofits when they aren’t in the office, launches.
2012
Founding of the nonprofit The FruitGuys Community Fund. Provides small grants for sustainability projects to small farms & agricultural nonprofits nationwide.
2018
20 years in business! Snack program in full swing. 14 hubs and 100+ employees nationwide. Thousands of clients and millions of employees served.
2019
The FruitGuys becomes a certified B Corporation. We commit to donate a minimum value of 20% of annual profits to relieve hunger in communities that we serve and support small farm sustainability.
2020
COVID-19 pandemic closes the world in March. We lose 90% of our business in three weeks. We pivot to focus on home delivery. Special projects such as Healthcare Heroes delivery of 100,000 boxes to New York City healthcare professionals keep us afloat.
2021
Ultimately, have to lay off more than half our staff and close three hubs. We pivot into home delivery, unique gifts, Take a Breather remote wellness breaks, & pandemic meal kits.
2022
We live to see our 25th anniversary! Business starts to pick up again nationwide as people return to offices and send regular fruit & snacks to hybrid staff.
Recertified as a B Corp and recognized among the top 5% of B Corps worldwide as Best for the World in the Community Impact category.
2023
A new CEO! Founder Chris Mittelstaedt passes the banana to Erin Mittelstaedt (his sister), who first joined The FruitGuys in 2007.
The FruitGuys is a winner of the Real Leader Impact Award.
