Jim and Dick Rider are fifth generation orchardists. Their grandfather, Homer, was one of the pioneer fruit growers in the Watsonville, California area. In the early 1900s, he planted Newtown Pippins, Red Delicious, Spitzenburgs, and Belleflowers. He built one of the earliest cold storage sheds in the area. His sons, Bruce and Clint, continued his legacy of farming. Bruce built Bruce Rider and Sons packing shed in Watsonville, while Clint built an apple juice processing plant across the road. Bruce trained his sons, Dick and Jim, to take over his growing and packing operations.

Earning an engineering degree, Dick used his love of precision and detail to make the premier organic apple packing house in California. He packs about 75% of the organic apples in California. The Rider shed is the main plant packing CF Fresh’s Viva Tierra apples in California. During packing season Dick virtually lives at the packing line ensuring CF Fresh can bring the highest quality fruit to the market. Dick’s wife Joan loves to work side by side with him and is just as meticulous as he is. Dick is a consummate apple packer; a quiet courteous man that everyone loves to work with.

Jim Rider’s love for the land bloomed into 75 acres of apples in organic production and another 25 acres of flowers. He is known throughout the area as an innovative, progressive grower, so when he put his entire apple acreage into organic production, others observed his progress with great interest. A fan of experimentation, he found that the coastal California climate and Jonagold apples are a perfect fit. One of his enthusiasms is grafting, so his orchard is a wonderland of the new and exotic. He has considerable plantings of Fuji and Braeburn, and newer varieties such as Pink Lady^®. Jim’s wife Barbara markets the flowers from their acres of flower beds.

The Rider brothers are great examples of thriving organic family farming. They are among the premier organic growers in California. Their partnership with CF Fresh continues to prosper.