FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR
MERIDIAN GROWERS
Madera company
cracks the next phase of its operation
BY AARON BERMAN
Q UICK QUIZ: Roughly how many U.S.-grown pistachios are produced in California? 50%? 75%? 90%? Try 99%, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. And of the approximately 1.2 billion pounds grown nationally this year, 25 million pounds (or roughly 2.5%) were produced by the 21 growers who make up Meridian Growers (all but one—based in Arizona—are located in California). Yet the cultivation of pistachios, almonds and pecans are just one part of the Madera-based company’s “big tent” operation, which processes, markets and distributes them, too. This was the vision current managing partner Jim Zion and co-founder Martin Gisele had in 1996, just 18 years after the very first U.S. pistachio harvest. When Meridian Growers officially launched in 1998, “it was about how to better serve the growers
and market their product,” explains Michelle Carter, director of communications. It was also about “being transparent with the growers about what their product was selling for.” In other words, being a partner rather than a customer. Under one roof From navigating local water regulations to handling foreign tariffs, growers face challenges aplenty. That’s why being part of Meridian Growers, which sells about 50 million pounds of dried fruits and nuts to 40 countries each year, is so important (about 20% of their business remains in the U.S.). “They have everything in one place,” observes Steven Hoffman, VP of commercial banking at California Bank & Trust. “They have the same growers they purchase from, they process it, they market it.
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 18 | 2024
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