Organic Cherry Farm Spotlight: Meet Jeff Ferrari of Ferrari Farms
When The FruitGuys called farmer Jeff Ferrari of Ferrari Farms to check in on his cherry crop, he was praying for dry weather. He told us that in the final days before picking, a drizzle can wreak havoc on an organic cherry farm. “The rain causes the cherries to crack,” Jeff explained. “This last weekend […]
This LGBTQ+-Owned Snack Brand Makes Granola with Love
Early Bird Foods & Co. is a nearly 20-year-old company. Its granola is a favorite of Martha Stewart, scored a feature in The New York Times, and even helped inspire the house granola at the Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park. But despite this success, the brand doesn’t have a bustling office and a big staff. […]
How to Build an Office Snack Program on a Budget (5 Easy Steps)
Have you heard of The Perk Paradox? In the age of return-to-office efforts, it’s sneaking into almost every workplace and HR department like a kid on the hunt for a cookie jar. The Perk Paradox is another name for the give-and-take relationship between offering workplace perks (like a healthy and delicious office snack program) and […]
A Granola Cereal Bowl Worth Waking Up For
When you need to rev up your brain for a long work day, go for a high-fiber breakfast. It will focus your mind and, according to the Cleveland Clinic, help lower your cholesterol, which is great news for long-term heart health. One of my favorite high-fiber breakfasts for spring is this granola cereal bowl topped […]
This Farm’s Organic Apricots Help Heal the Planet
When The FruitGuys called farmer Vernon Peterson in late March to talk about organic apricots, he picked up the phone from the middle of his nectarine orchard. His smiling face filled up the video call’s screen, and behind him, we saw a sea of green. “These are our cover crops,” he said, gesturing proudly to […]
The FruitGuys Partners with RTW to Feed Chicago Veterans
Every Thursday morning, Wilbert Taylor pulls up to The FruitGuys’ Chicago warehouse in his truck. He pops open the back, says hello to Receiving Supervisor Jack Reed, and starts filling the truck with boxes of bananas, apples, oranges, and other fresh fruit. This is just one stop on Wilbert’s weekly rounds picking up donated groceries […]
Meet Fair & Square: AAPI-Owned, Gluten-Free Snacks for the Office
In some ways, Alex Duong’s cracker brand, Fair & Square, is a metaphor for his Asian American identity. He grew up eating Chinese food at big family potlucks, and those memories helped inspire his company’s gluten-free snacks for the office break room. His crackers are organic, dairy-free, and allergy-friendly—so almost everyone can enjoy them. But […]
FruitGuys Clients Help Project Open Hand Feed Sick Californians
Businesses ordering fresh produce and snacks from The FruitGuys can choose to have their food delivered or to “fruit it forward” to a local hunger relief organization. At Project Open Hand—which provides fresh produce and medically tailored meals to sick, elderly, and homebound people in California—those donations can be life-changing, especially around the holidays. “[Last […]
Is Cleaning Fruit with Baking Soda or Vinegar Really Necessary?
In a viral TikTok video, fitness influencer Jeffrey Harris dumps strawberries, blueberries, and grapes into bowls. He fills the bowls with water and tops them off with a mix of apple cider vinegar and baking soda. A quick cut later, the water is so brown it makes him grimace. That’s probably the moment when more […]
Market Update: How 2024 Hurricanes Impacted Fresh Citrus Fruits
In the fall of 2024, back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall in Florida and tore through its orchards of fresh citrus fruits. High winds stripped trees of their leaves, knocked oranges to the ground, and snapped branches. At Vero Beach, Florida, a tornado spawned by Hurricane Milton battered Al’s Family Farms. It ripped the […]
Meet the Flynns: Pioneers in Sustainable Corporate Snacks
Until 2019, Bryan Flynn thought that most plastic snack packaging was recyclable. Then, he and his wife Kate cofounded the snack company Sun & Swell, and he discovered the truth: Almost every trail mix bag and snack bar wrapper they made would end up in the landfill. “It was kind of a chilling moment for […]
Where Do Citrus Fruits Come From? Check the Family Tree!
Our team at The FruitGuys is chock–full of fruit experts. We can talk your ear off about Ojai Pixie tangerines, wax eloquent about the difference between a mandarin and an orange, and discourse for days on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) versus hybrids. But when we set out to answer the question “Where do citrus fruits […]
Ojai Pixie Tangerines: An Epic Crop Is on the Way!
When The FruitGuys called farmer Emily Ayala of Friend’s Ranches on February 20, her team was gearing up to harvest an enormous crop of Ojai Pixie tangerines. “It’s more than twice as big as last year, which was quite a small crop,” she told us, surveying her orchard while we spoke. She estimated that she […]
Love Peanut Butter? Try These Organic Healthy Snacks
When Gael Orr was a little girl in the 1970s, her mother came home from the grocery store in the tiny town of Nunda, New York, with something special: a jar of organic almond butter made by the local company Once Again Nut Butter. Her mother was thrilled with her find, and Gael ate Once […]
This California Citrus Grower Melds High-Tech Farming and Family Values
Marcus Marderosian looks forward to Cara Cara orange season every year. This sweet, low-acid citrus is a type of navel orange, and it typically pops up around Christmas and lingers through spring. You have to hunt for Cara Caras in the grocery store, but Marcus was born into a family of citrus growers in California—so […]
Employee Recognition vs. Appreciation: Why They Matter and How to Take Action
I started to understand employee recognition vs. appreciation when I landed my first “real” office job in my early 20s. It came with a cubicle (which I was extremely excited to decorate) and weekly all-hands meetings. One highlight of those meetings was “the horseshoe moment.” The Horseshoe Moment: Recognition or Appreciation? The horseshoe was a […]
Kings River Packing: This Fresh Fruit Farm Made Orange History
Drive through Fresno County, California, and your wheels will kick up dust onto row after row of orange trees bearing bright green leaves and glowing fruit. There are more than 19,500 acres of them growing on local fresh fruit farms—but legend has it the county’s crop originated from just a few seeds, planted in 1866 […]
Pipcorn Launches New Gluten-Free Salty Snacks for the Office
For thirteen years, the snack makers at Pipcorn have been obsessed with heirloom corn. They buy the kernels from family farmers and turn them into better-for-you, gluten-free salty snacks like miniature popcorn, cheese balls, and scoop-shaped dippers. In 2024, the company added something new to its office snack lineup: fries! Brainstorming New Gluten-Free Salty Snacks […]
Should We Rename Fresh Blood Oranges?
In 2023, a post circulating on the social media platform Reddit kicked off intense citrus discourse. The photo, captioned “Raspberry Oranges,” showed a peeled orange with flesh so dark red it was nearly black. “Finally, goth oranges,” one commenter wrote, snagging 2,600 likes. Another said, “I kinda just assumed these were blood oranges for people […]
Representation Is the Office Snack Station’s Missing Ingredient
Denise Woodard’s allergy-friendly cookie company, Partake Foods, stocks products in over 10,000 stores nationwide. But starting a snack business wasn’t on her radar early in her career. In fact, she didn’t realize it was an option for a Black and Asian-American woman like her. “When I was in college, my awareness of what career opportunities […]
