Going Direct August 27, 2007

People are generally excited to see us. However, I didn't expect the kind of excitement we generated back in March of this year as we drove one of our gray FruitGuys trucks across country from San Francisco to Philadelphia. Somewhere in Kansas the truck was stopped by local police officers who pulled us over for looking suspicious. They didn't seem to believe that we would be moving a truck to Philadelphia to grow a business that brings fruit to offices. Not accepting our explanation (with documentation) they took the truck apart looking for something that was obviously a grave danger to the security of the quiet Kansas corn fields that surrounded our route. Two hours, 6 officers and two bomb sniffing dogs later our truck was again on its way. Maybe the authorities were thrown off by our inflammatory tag line on the back of the truck: "Fruit, Happiness, Fruit."

East Coast: This week our truck generated another kind of excitement when my sister arrived at Hollabaugh Brothers farm near Gettysburg to pick up fruit. The Hollabaugh brothers are the growers of this weeks Ginger Gold Apples, Red Bartlett Pears, Gala Apples and (a special treat) Niitaka Asian Pears. When Erin pulled up they were sorting through a large wooden bin of fruit picked fresh from their orchards; they were dividing their harvest into smaller bins to get ready for our order. They were so excited to see our truck, and at the idea that their fruit was going to bring happiness to people in offices, that they took photos of the truck with their family. Validation in the fruit world is sweet.

West Coast: This week we have a mega-local farm for those who get our organic crate in The Bay Area. The green Bartlett pears are from Jelich Ranch on Portola Road in Portola Valley. This organic grower does very little to the fruit so it may have some russet colored marks on it from where the fruit has grown against a branch or tree. Give a day or two to let soften - their pears have a wonderfully lemon-honey flavor to them. Dan also had lots of fun avoiding bees (he's never been stung) and playing with the farm dogs. The pluots (stickered as "plum") are from a farm in Marysville, California near the Yuba river. The Shinseki Asian Pears are from Gabriel Farms in Sebastopol - I'll write more about this farm in the next few weeks.

FYI: The mix of our fruit in the crates now varies by region as we continue to find local farmers on both coasts. Take a look at our website to see what is in your crate