October 10, 2010, Oxnard, CA – Deardorff Family Farms today announced the addition of three key employees as well as significant expansion of its organic product lines.
Since 1937, the Deardorff family name has been synonymous with high quality fresh produce items and sustainable business practices. Now in its fourth generation, Deardorff Family Farms continues this tradition with significant expansion of its organic product line.
“We are committed to sustainability and for us that includes a commitment to organic production,” said Tom Deardorff, II, president of Deardorff Family Farms. The company has had double-digit growth in organic sales the last three years. However, this year the company is scheduled for a 5-fold increase due to the attainment of certification on large organic ranches that are either owned or leased by the Deardorffs.
Growth of this type requires personnel. As Mr. Deardorff put it, “people are the most important part of a company – especially in a small family business where we work closely together. We wanted to choose wisely as we built the team that would be responsible for our organic program and the overall marketing strategy for our company. We are very fortunate to have a large percentage of employees who have been with us for 10, 15 and 20 years or more. Adding new people to this mix is a delicate process and we only do it when we find the very best.”
Deardorff Family Farms is proud to announce the addition of Scott Albertson, Paul Rabadan and Tony Patino.
Mr. Albertson brings a lifetime of produce experience to Deardorff Family Farms having grown up in a multi generational produce family. He was most recently the Vice-President of Business Development for Ballantine Produce Company and joins Deardorff Family Farms as its Director of Marketing and Business Development. “Scott brings to us a fresh, creative, and intellectual approach to our marketing and strategic planning. Over the years, Scott has been involved in many facets of adding value to agricultural commodities and has extensive experience in sustainability” said Mr. Deardorff.
Paul Rabadan has been hired to lead all organic sales. Mr. Rabadan has over 18 years of organic sales experience with some of the largest grower/shippers in the industry, including Earthbound, PIM and Del Cabo. According to Mr. Deardorff, “Paul’s abundance of energy and his depth of experience will elevate our organic program to levels well beyond our earlier expectations.”
For its organic farming department, Deardorff Family Farms hired Tony Patino to assist with its organic growing and packing operations. Mr. Patino has over 15 years of organic experience and brings a new outlook to Deardorff’s operations.
As far as products for this fall, Deardorff Family Farms will add to its already well known celery program by introducing broccoli, romaine, green leaf, red leaf, green cabbage, red cabbage, napa, bok choy, baby bok choy, spinach, cilantro, collards, daikon, kale, parsley and chard. Also, the company will add organic strawberries starting this winter.
Deardorff Family Farms is owned and operated by Tom Deardorff, II and Scott Deardorff. Their products are all shipped from Oxnard, California.
Caption: Paul Rabadan (left) and Scott Albertson are pictured at Deardorff Family Farms
Source: Deardorff Family Farms