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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 what looked like long grasses
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 Alex is quick to admit
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 us,” he told The FruitGuys.
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 Again’s organic almond and peanut
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 he has easy access to
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 by the matriarch of a
At first glance, Mavuno Harvest’s Chewy Fruit Bites look similar to a lot of other dried fruit products on the market. But take a closer look, and you’ll spot a few things that set these healthy desk snacks apart. First, their shape: Instead of strips or chunks, Mavuno’s dried fruit comes in snack-sized balls that combine two different fruits (like
“Farming is scary. Farming is beautiful. You get your crop and you get to enjoy it and see other people enjoy it. And farming is extremely unpredictable.” Scary, beautiful, and unpredictable—that’s how Megan Shanley Warren describes her life in three words. Megan started farming California finger limes, avocados, passion fruit, and more specialty crops with her father, Jim Shanley, in
When Arielle Levy was a kid, she often came home from school to find her mom, Diana Levy, in the kitchen playing with chocolate. “She made chocolate-covered Oreos, chocolate-covered apples, then moved into chocolate-covered truffles,” Arielle told The FruitGuys. “For a while, she built objects in chocolate, like chocolate high heels!” Arielle had no way of knowing that those kitchen
Persimmons are technically an alternate-bearing crop, which means their trees should produce an avalanche of fruit one year and a smaller yield the next. But when The FruitGuys called farmer Michael Reimer of Brandt Farms to ask about his persimmon season, he told us that his trees usually produce a Goldilocks amount—and this year was no exception. Persimmon Season at
There’s nothing like the sweet, fuzzy face of a dog or cat to make a long day on the farm a little easier. With that in mind, The FruitGuys team asked our farm partners from across the country to send in stories about their four-legged farm hands. Here are a few of our favorites! Shanley Farms: Blue Shanley Farms grows
In 2014, Nancy Kalish started a quest. She set out to make vegan, allergy-friendly brownies out of chickpeas—and get them to actually taste good. “I kept working at it and kept torturing my family and friends with different recipes,” she told The FruitGuys, cracking up at the memory. “… I must have tweaked it well over 100 times. You can
If the word “orchard” brings to mind acres of flat, fertile ground covered in gently waving fruit trees, go ahead and toss that image out the window. At Frecon Farms—a small family farm—in Boyertown, Pennsylvania—apple and peach trees cling to rocky slopes steep enough for skiing. “What makes our farm special?” Steve Frecon mused when The FruitGuys got him on
Phil Kosak is the founder of Wicked Crisps, a better-for-you chip brand on a mission to employ as many workers with disabilities as possible. But back in 1984, he was running a different company: Carolina Fine Snacks, which made cheese curls, pork rinds, and other bites. And he was having trouble keeping workers on staff. “With seven positions, we went
Every spring, the AsaJu Asian pear trees in Subarashii Kudamono’s orchards release a shower of delicate white petals. The falling flowers reveal tiny pears the size of marbles—and that’s when the real work begins. Orchard manager Tyler Hollenbach and his crew work their way up and down the rows of trees, swaddling each petite pear by hand in a wax-lined
In 2017, business partners Rip Pruskin and Marco De Leon walked into a factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with smiles on their faces. They were there to flip the ceremonial switch on the production line for their snack company, Rip Van. It was a huge moment. Not only would the move send Dutch stroopwafel cookies sailing down the line’s conveyor belt,
Kauffman Orchards in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, turns out super-sweet Saturn donut peaches, glossy Ruby Queen plums, and crisp Ginger Gold apples every year. But Orchard Manager Clair Kauffman is a pear man at heart. The Family Farm’s Best-Kept Secrets “I really enjoy pears, and I think they’re a commonly misunderstood fruit, especially in the grocery store,” Clair told The FruitGuys in
When Max Surnow was a kid, his family left Michigan every summer for their cabin in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He and his brother Sam spent days mountain biking at the foot of Sunset Peak and hiking through White River National Forest. When they made it back to the cabin on Cooper Street, it was time for a family ritual. The brothers
In some ways, a family farm is just an extra-large kitchen garden. It’s an extension of the home and the people that live there—at least, that’s how fourth-generation farmer Amber Balakian feels about Balakian Farms. “We care for the land because we live on it; it’s not just this property that is separate from us,” she told The FruitGuys when
“So, a social worker, a farmer, an engineer, and a salesman walk into a bar…” That sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but if you swap the word “farm” in for “bar,” it’s pretty close to the story of how Abby Schilling purchased Mick Klüg Farms from her father, Mick Klüg, seven years ago. From Farmer to Social
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