George Boskovich III, Boskovich Farms and Fresh Prep
Boskovich Follows Well Worn Path to Company Business
By Tim Linden “ When I was in high school, I mentioned to my dad that it would only be a couple more years before I would be working full time for Boskovich Farms,” recalls George Boskovich III, the fourth generation of the family tree involved in agriculture. “But he told me, he wouldn’t hire me unless I had a college education.” George III, who is not called that except in the office and in this article, moved to Camarillo when he was five years old and ever since assumed he would become an active member of the Boskovich farming team. “It seems my dad (George Boskovich Jr., CEO of Boskovich Farms) always took me to work with him. At least that’s the way I remember it. From an early age I always wanted to work with my dad and figured I would.” The younger George did go to California State University at Channel Islands, which is the youngest university in the Cal State system. George majored in Business Management and did join Boskovich Farms on a full-time basis in 2005. “My dad started me off in the sales office. He wanted me to learn about each
customer and know what products they buy and how they wanted them.” After about 18 months, George III went into the operations side to gain more knowledge on every aspect of the firm from growing through harvesting, cooling and processing. “I have been involved in many different projects in all aspects of the operation over the years,” he said. Not too long ago, the Boskovich Farms management team, which includes George III as well as his father and others in the family business, decided to spin off its Fresh Prep division as a stand-alone company. “We did it for a number of reasons,” said George III, who serves as CEO of Fresh Prep while also continuing to wear the hat of vice president at Boskovich Farms. “We wanted to be more nimble and be able to meet consumer demand more easily.” He said there were also fiscal management reasons, including separating risks on the business side, but first and foremost was the concept of being able to make decisions independent of the farming and commodity operations.
George III and George Jr. in an Oxnard field.
10
JULY | AUGUST 2021
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs