THE JOURNEY
Planted Our First Fruit
FirstFruits Brand was Born
On-Site Childcare
Vitsa Hermosa Establishment
FirstFruits Marketing Establishment
We Launched Opal®
Health Clinic
Not long after our founders planted their first trees back in 1980, the FirstFruits brand was born. Over time, our farm became vertically integrated as a grower, packer, and shipper in the remote region of southeast Washington.
Like many successful businesses, a clear purpose and dedicated values shaped what the future would look like. That future was and still is people. Since the beginning, we have valued our employees and sought to create an environment where employees can grow and thrive; personally, and professionally. In 1988 we established on-site childcare, when we realized children were being left at home alone during work hours. And in 2015, we opened a health clinic.
We’re most proud of establishing the Vista Hermosa community in 1990. It provides safe, affordable housing to over 800 year-round and seasonal employees and also includes a path for home ownership.
CHANGING TIMES, GROWING NEEDS
As the industry changed and competition grew, it became clear that being just a grower wasn’t enough. As part of our commitment to be completely vertically integrated, it was important for us to have our own sales and marketing team, and in 2009 FirstFruits Marketing was born. This step toward sales control also allowed us to launch our proprietary variety to stay on trend with consumer demand for new apple varieties. Opal®, an innovative, non-GMO apple variety whose distinct color and sweet, crunchy flavor has become increasingly popular with consumers since it was first introduced in 2010.
Although FirstFruits Farms was purchased in 2019, we remain committed to developing relationships, serving people and building community at home and throughout the places we do business. That’s easy to do when our new owners are teachers – the very people who are trained to put people first from the very earliest of days.
Years of Grown
of Workers
Acres
Boxes packed/day
Proudly Grown
At FirstFruits we have over 40 years of pride and passion when it comes to growing fruit. We have a community of over 2800 workers who farm over 8000 acres of land between apples, cherries, and pears. With our state-of-the-art facilities, we are able pack and ship at lightning speeds and store inventory as needed in our temperature controlled warehouse.
