People are what make our cooperative so successful, not just our farming family members, but also the employees who work beside them every day.
All eight of the California Tomato Farmers (CTF) members have been farming in California for generations. And, each of our farmers can tell a story about employing generations of families from the communities where they live and work.
“Our harvesting supervisor has been working with us for about 12 years now, and his mother, father, brothers and uncles all have worked for us. One of his cousins is our labor contractor, and we work with him every day,” said a CTF member. For many of the employees working in these small agricultural towns where our members live and work, it’s truly a family affair.
One of our farmers has an employee who is in his 80s, who worked for his grandfather, back when he was managing the family business.
Many of our farming families are the largest employer in the small towns where they grow and harvest tomatoes. Some of our members plant additional crops in the winter months to help ensure year-round jobs for their employees.
“I take the same tomatoes home to my family that I sell to restaurants and grocery stores,”
Sure Harvest Partnership
Members of our cooperative have been leaders in developing Integrated Pest Management strategies and sustainability practices for over 30 years. CTF members have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars on new research for improving growing methods as well as disease and pest control practices.
The first food safety standards developed specifically for tomatoes was created by CTF members along with our buyers, government officials and university scientists. The hands-on practical knowledge that our members brought to the table coupled with the science-based data provided by researchers, helped to create food safety standards that are both rigorous and effective. These food safety standards are continually updated and improved as new information and research becomes available. CTF members must follow these standards to be part of the cooperative and are subjected to mandatory government announced and unannounced audits to verify compliance.
Committed to Customers
Providing healthy food to consumers is what drives our members to grow and harvest their tomatoes responsibly and carefully. And, multiple generations of consumers have enjoyed the food grown by our members “I take the same tomatoes home to my family that I sell to restaurants and grocery stores,” is a sentiment shared by one of our members and echoes what all of our farmers believe.
Charitable Anchors in the Community
Many of our growers are the largest employers in their small communities and with that comes much responsibility. Each member supports their community through charitable outreach providing much needed help for local schools, community groups, and youth athletics.
“We always have requests coming across our desks to sponsor youth athletic teams or a community fundraiser, and we always say ‘yes,’” said one of our members. “It’s part of our commitment to our employees. This is their community as well as ours, and we do everything we can to support it.”
