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When I think of cherries, I usually think of Bings (the dark red ones) and Rainiers (yellow with a red blush). But in truth, there’s a whole world of cherry varieties to choose from. Our farm partners grow the Arvin Glen, Black Pearl, Lapin, Royal Hazel, Royal Tioga, Sequoia®, and more. There isn’t exactly a rainbow of cherries available, but
One thing I love about being part of a food company is the amazing people I get to meet. Early on in my career with The FruitGuys, I was so excited and proud to explore the often-hidden world of produce. I felt giddy over early morning trips to the market in Philadelphia and visits with farmers who walked me through
Wondering what fruits are in our fruit delivery boxes in May and why you might not see peaches just yet? I’m here to help. In today’s Chief Banana newsletter, I’m answering some burning questions from fruit fans like you. 1. I saw peaches at the store–why aren’t there any in my FruitGuys box yet? Great question! The harvest of summer
Since 2013, The FruitGuys Community Fund has given out annual grants of $5,000 or less to small farms and agricultural nonprofits across the country. That first year, we awarded five sustainable farming grants. This year, I’m proud to announce that we’re awarding twenty-one across seventeen states! Each farm will use its grant for a sustainability project. This Year’s Sustainability Projects
I had the pleasure of visiting some of our Midwest clients last week. They were so generous with their time, showing me around their offices and explaining how they use our fruit. I noticed a common theme as the day went on: Bananas are the office favorite, and everyone has a favorite banana color. Personally, I like to eat bananas
I was driving home last week when I had a sudden flash of memory. I’m standing in the green grass field at my elementary school in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It’s the late ‘80s, and my classmates and I are writing messages about ourselves on notecards and tying them to helium balloons. It’s almost time for the big sendoff: The
It’s 2007, and I’m pulling up to the loading dock of a blueberry grower in Hammonton, New Jersey, for the first time. I’m not buying enough fruit to fill an official van, so I’ve shown up in my bright blue Toyota RAV4, ready to stack cases of berries into the back. An older woman comes out to greet me and
Last week, I flew to New York to attend the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management’s Critical Issues Conference. I had a great time meeting other food service providers and partners at the one-day event and listening to them share best practices for the industry. One of my favorite sessions was a panel discussion featuring registered dietitians and nutritionists in
In the last 24 hours of their spring break, my boys have played about a dozen board games, built a fort using every pillow and blanket in the house, discovered “Beatboxing Blueberry,” and put on a play about saving my life that involved jumping off of a bunkbed. (Yes, I’m tired. I’ve also laughed more in the last 24 hours
For the last few months, our team has been working with fruit experts at the University of California, Riverside to create a Citrus Family Tree. It turns out the oranges, grapefruits, and tangelos we love come from a complicated web of fruit relationships. But they’re all descended from just five types of citrus: the original citrus fruits. I, a lover of
My wife, Julie, and I have an informal competition going on at home: Who can make the kids’ lunches the fastest? In all fairness, it’s not really a competition because Julie always wins. But I like to do things well, so I at least try to beat her. The competition started a year or so ago when I came back
We’re still a few weeks away from the vernal equinox (the official beginning of spring), but in California, it’s starting to feel like a new season. The hills in San Francisco are finally green again after a rainy winter. My family and I are getting outside more often to enjoy the color and the sunshine. Meanwhile, the fresh fruits of
When people find out that I work for a fruit company, their next question is often, “So what are the health benefits of fruit, really?” It’s easy to talk about the physical benefits: Fruit boosts our digestion with fiber, strengthens our immune system with vitamins, and protects our cells from oxidation with antioxidants. But I’ve started to go in a
This week marks twenty-seven years since The FruitGuys—and the concept of corporate fruit delivery—was born. The story goes that my brother, Chris, and his wife, Pia, had recently moved back to San Francisco. It was the height of the dot-com boom. Chris was 28 years old, Pia was pregnant, and he was running faxes (delivering papers from those old-fangled machines
My parents are originally from Louisiana, and when they came to visit this past weekend they shared a photograph they’d found among my grandparents’ belongings. The monochrome image captures a moment in time. In it, a pile of harvested sugarcane waits for processing at a mill; behind it stand a lean-to and a dozen Black and white men, women, and
Update (April 7, 2025): The tariff situation has continued to evolve since this blog was published. On April 2, the Trump administration announced a new wave of tariffs on multiple countries. Several of those countries export bananas, which are a key part of our service at The FruitGuys. As of this writing, we don’t plan to raise prices on our
My youngest son isn’t the biggest Orange fan, but that all changes if he can turn them into fresh-squeezed juice. “I want to make juice,” he declares, dragging his stool over to the counter and pulling the juicer toward him. He calls out the ingredients, asking us to lay them out on the cutting board so that he can feed
“Try this one, it’s the best,” micro farmer Byron Nkhoma says, bending down and plucking a few leaves from an arugula plant. He hands them out for our little group to taste. The leaves are peppery—just as I expected—but somehow creamier than other arugula I’ve tried. Byron says it’s because they come from an older plant. Continuing through his farm
I had a plan for what to write in this week’s Chief Banana blog—but the truth is, I haven’t been able to think about much other than the horrific, fast-moving wildfires in Los Angeles since they erupted overnight last week. As I write this, the fires are still mostly uncontained. Whether you have a personal connection to the LA area
I’m happy to report that our 2025 grant cycle is now open! Each year since 2012, The FruitGuys Community Fund (TFGCF) has had the joy and pleasure of issuing farming grants for small farms across the US. To date, we’ve awarded 143 grants across 38 US states and territories. TFGCF’s Farming Grants for Small Farms When our committee picks a new class
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