The Fruit Patch Story
In 1976 Leo Balakian, owner of Fruit Patch, Inc. bought a 30-acre ranch complete with peach and nectarine trees and a packing shed. Leo moved his family to the ranch so they could grow up learning about farming. "I wanted to have the kids grow up in an environment similar to how I grew up. You learn to appreciate the earth." Each member of the family pitched in with the responsibilities associated with growing, harvesting and packing. His sons, Vincent and Anthony and his daughter Michelle spent their afternoons and summers helping their father. "Farming becomes your whole life. You take pride in selling a product you've carefully grown," said Anthony.
Fruit Patch has become the largest individual California tree fruit shipper in the industry. Our name is recognized with quality and consistency all over the United States, Canada, Pacific Rim and the United Kingdom. Leo Balakian and his two sons, Vincent and Anthony, have grown the business from 20,000 boxes in 1975 to over twelve million boxes that they produce today. They are still involved with the day-to-day and minute-to-minute decisions of the business. There are no big boardrooms, board meetings, or any of the bureaucracies found in many large businesses. When a problem or opportunity arises, it can be dealt with quickly and efficiently. As Fruit Patch has grown, some of the best growers in the fruit business have joined the Fruit Patch family. Bill Workman and Pat Otis of Big Penny Coachella grapes. The Kinosians of Sundale Vineyards. The Cosart family and Arboleda label plums and the Pinkham family with Pinkham label persimmons. Scattaglia farms with late season, mountain grown tree fruit. These growers have demonstrated through good markets and bad the commitment to packing the finest quality fruit in their respective category. This is a huge leap of faith. Growing and packing the best always drives your growing costs higher. The Pinkham, Kinosian, Cosart, Workman, Otis and Scattaglia families rely on Fruit Patch to achieve good market prices in order to stay in business. Fruit Patch would like to thank all our customers for an excellent 2003.