C arl Sam Maggio, one of three founding partners of Prime Time International, and a six-decade veteran of the fresh produce industry, died on Aug. 19, 2022. He was 89. Growing up in El Centro, Calif. and the Imperial Valley, Maggio served in the U.S. Army and went on to graduate from the University of Southern California. He went to work for his uncle, carrot king Joe Maggio, in 1957. In 1975, Carl Sam Maggio, Cookie Bianco and Howard Marguleas launched Sun World International as two main partners in what would become a highly innovative operation. The company started with a citrus deal, added a lettuce operation and then was off to the races. For the next 15 years, Sun World was at the forefront of innovation with such produce items as seedless watermelon, yellow and red peppers, vine-ripe tomatoes and Superior Seedless table grapes. In 1992, Maggio, alongside Mark Nickerson and Chuck Hodges, founded Sun and Sands Enterprises. Sun and Sands merged with C.H. Sales in 1997, and Prime Time International was born. Prime Time, then headquartered in Coachella, Calif., continues to specialize in red, orange, yellow and green peppers. Maggio said in an interview that there weren’t many people in the pepper business in the 1990s and he felt the timing was perfect to expand in that particular commodity. “When we started the business, we looked for an opening…and that opportunity was the year-round bell pepper category,” he said in an interview with TheSnack.net. Thanks to Maggio’s leadership, Prime Time has grown to ship more than 30,000 cases of mini, green, yellow, orange and red peppers daily from their growing areas throughout California and Mexico. Earlier this year, Maggio announced his retirement from Prime Time International. “Carl Sam, Mark and the late Chuck Hodges founded our company in 1992 and are true titans of the produce industry.
CARL SAM MAGGIO (1933-2022)
Carl Sam Maggio inspecting mini-peppers at the company’s Coachella Valley packing plant.
They made Prime Time into a leader in the bell pepper category, and we look forward to building upon their success,” said Mike Way, Prime Time International’s Managing Partner, at the time of Maggio and Nickerson’s retirement. “Not only are Carl Sam and Mark leaders in the industry, they are also generous in their support of our community and its many charitable organizations; we have learned a great deal from both men.” Maggio was the 2012 recipient of Western Growers’ Award of Honor, the associations’ highest award. He served on Western Growers Board of Directors in 1978 and again from 1980-1994, including a term as Chair in 1992. For Maggio, it was that dedication to the agriculture community that was one
of the highlights of his career. “I’ve met great people; great things have happened,” Maggio said at the time he received the Award of Honor. “Obviously, I could retire if I wanted to, but nothing’s as much fun as this.” He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and three children: daughters Jennifer Maggio and Leanne Ryan, and his son, Sam Maggio.
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