FARM TOUR 2022: RAINBOW VALLEY ORCHARDS
In Selma we met the infamous Ryan San Jose, “Sales Ninja” of Rainbow Valley Orchards, and quickly hopped in his truck to start our tour. He launched into RVO history as he weaved through traffic on the 99 towards Visalia, flanked by the fruit and nut orchards that dominate the San Joaquin Valley. We listened, and watched those orange and yellow globes whiz past under the blue sky and snow-capped Sierras.
The roots of RVO go back to 1981, when Rich Hart ran a small coop of citrus farmers in San Diego County. Described as a group of hippies putting people over profit, their business was (and largely continues to be) counter-cultural, against the grain of consolidating corporate agriculture interests. That idea marks a major theme for RVO, and something that we were lucky to see in action: they consistently strive to do right by their growers, in a market that is ever changing and favors the big guys.
Their business grew along with the demand for quality, chemical-free citrus down in San Diego – they brought a slew of growers into the fold and continually expanded their Fallbrook pack shed over the years. This growth culminated in today’s (minimum) 200 grower-partners from northern Mexico to Fresno, and a volume beyond the capacity of a single pack shed. But despite that growth, RVO has never dropped its passion for quality – they pride themselves in having customers who know what it means to wait for peak-season flavor, even if that spells a loss in early sales. They choose organic not to follow a rising market, but out of a fundamental purpose to promote healthy soil and healthy people.
The green, rocky foothills felt like the Irish countryside as we approached the Woodlake pack shed, affectionately called RVO North. In 2020, they took over a shabby & neglected warehouse in the foothills of Visalia and quickly rehabbed the space into a packing powerhouse. There we met Pat, the current President of RVO and long-time friend of Earl, who joined the company in 1991. Along with our superstar sales rep, Yuliana, we rolled into the mechanical warehouse: where loads of oranges made their way through a maze of multistoried conveyor belts.
Bins of fruit arrive to the shed, and what follows is fairly simple. The fruit is power washed with water and passed through a soda ash solution (to beautify the fruit & prevent post-harvest mold). It is waxed and dried, then continues along the conveyor belt to be hand-sorted by employees: culls, choice, and juice grades. The choice fruit is separated from the fancy, before they are both sized by a photo machine (the only high-tech piece of equipment they have – Pat prefers to keep it old school: “they don’t make these things like they used to”). Finally, the fruit is hand-packed into those RVO boxes we know & love.
You may note that this process produces a box of single origin fruit by design, which speaks to RVO’s commitment to their growers. Ryan San Jose joined the company in 2006 when its marketing side was still budding– he quickly revamped the brand, and turned the growing-packing-shipping house into a sales force as well: a name to recognize. Beyond that, he described to us the field management and scouting portion of his business. He’s always looking for more growers that wish to transition to organic, and RVO not only helps with this certification process but provides orchard and harvest management, along with picking crews and other services. They do not pool any fruit from various farmers and pay after sale, but instead they pride themselves on paying the grower within 60 days of harvest and working to maximize their returns.
After winding through the pack shed, we proceeded to Ruby Ranch, about 20 acres of lemons planted under a hill. Ryan was excited to show us how the grower had maximized his yield in the small space by planting offset trees in each row. (This small innovation about tripled their yield, resulting in almost 60 acres of fruit). He also gave the trees special attention, using wooden stakes to hold up the individual branches. Crews will pick through lemons several times by size, and unlike other citrus, a well-managed lemon orchard can produce fruit up to 5 times per year. This is the kind of hands-on research and innovation that happens throughout the RVO network, and Ryan makes sure to share the latest with his various growers.
As in our industry at large, happy trees depend on water and good management. Ryan stressed that yields were low this year due to lack of rain the year before. He said the trees don’t respond as well to public utility water, but since the recent rains the trees have exploded with life. Pack rates also hold the echoes of past years: “Think of it like real estate,” he told us as we made our way to Joe Russel’s ranch, “the old fruit has to move out [be harvested] before the new fruit can move in [flower and grow].”
Here the new fruit had certainly paid its lease — the trees were brimming with navels and tangos. Joe comes from years of construction before moving into agriculture, and is currently on his way to 100% organic with the help of RVO. His newfound curiosity about the organic process was clear from the get-go: he painted himself as a tinkerer striving to find the perfect combination of practices for orchard management. He spoke a bit about the methods that intrigued him, such as hormone disruptors, compost, and the release of beneficial insects, with great result: his trees overflowed with gorgeous fruit. Practically unblemished, uniformly sized, and juicy, between samples Pat swore he didn’t say this to everyone: “I am veryimpressed with this orchard, I foresee a 90% pack out from you.” Joe beamed with pride.
We left behind a trail of peels and moved on to the Tangos. While they already tasted great to my lesser-trained pallet (along with the joy of eating straight from the tree!), the consensus of the group was different: a couple more weeks to go for optimum flavor. I had asked earlier how they know when to send picking crews, and barring the state regulations for sugar/acid ratios the answer was simple: eat the damn fruit!
Our last stop was to visit Thomas Benzler, 3rd generation family farmer near Selma. You may recognize the name Benzler, and have likely eaten the delicious grapes and raisins. But this year will mark the last grapes to be seen from his family’s land: as he transitions his entire acreage to citrus, his story paints a poignant picture of the challenges many small farmers face in the globalized market.
The sun was setting as we drove through his orchards, and he regaled us with stories about the land he lived on since his childhood. His grandmother was the true farmer, starting with 40 acres in 1953, while his grandfather owned several gas stations. Eventually the grapes took precedence, and he sold the stations to join the rest of the family on the farm. Organic was a no-brainer for their family that loved the land, and Tom was proud to share that they took the fourth spot on the California Organic registry in the early ‘80s.
They continued with grapes until recent years, but as the large grape labels began to move production to Mexico, the cost of doing business has proved too high. We saw this transition in progress – field after field of vines ripped out of the ground, to be replaced by citrus. Luckily, this won’t be his first foray into trees. He showed us the late-season navels he was proud of, along with the cover crops he planted in the rows (“green middles, green middles!” he kept repeating). We passed his full-time employee housing, a facet of his operation that speaks to a bygone era of farming in the region: “I’ve seen so many small farms fold and lease their land to the corporations.” Instead, Tom has deep connections to the land & to his workers – many of whom have been around for decades and are like family to him. As the darkness fell around us, we discussed the plans for his orchards, learned about giant peach-pit bonfires to save his trees from freezing temperatures, and listened to stories of trips down to Oaxaca with “Uncle Stinky.”
Firmly planted in the land he loves, he seemed to be one of the few family farms left; and Pat & Ryan displayed a lot of passion for preserving that legacy. They helped him plan his new orchards to maximize returns (Tom’s philosophy was to be the “first, last, and only” on the market – planting early- and late- season varieties as well as some citrus less widely grown). Keep in mind that most of these plans won’t see returns for a minimum of 7 years, but Tom and the folks at RVO are used to playing a long game. They are dedicated to the work, doing what they can to keep family farmers afloat… and Tom hopes he can get his kids to follow in his footsteps.
It was a privilege to learn from the folks at RVO and witness the growth of their operations. Pat was truly happy to receive us, making sure we know how much he appreciates our partnership. “Earls understands the bigger picture of what we do: working to maintain a constant in the face of an everchanging cycle.” Pat put it bluntly when he said: “we live and die by these cycles.” And as long as we’re blessed with the work of folks like those at RVO, we will continue living with delicious, quality citrus!
