Capital press., April 13, 2018, Page 10, Image 38

10 CapitalPress.com
April 13, 2018
At Evans Fruit Co., it’s about family
By DAVE LEDER
For the Capital Press
Family comes first at Ev-
ans Fruit Co., a 69-year-old
growing and shipping oper-
ation based in Washington’s
Yakima Valley.
The company started small
back in 1949, when Bill and
Jeannette Evans planted their
first 10-acre apple orchard
in their late teen years. Over
time, with the help of family
and friends, Evans Fruit has
become an internationally
known grower-shipper that
produces apples and cherries.
Today, the Evans family
farms more than 8,000 acres
across Central Washington,
employing 800 to 1,000 peo-
ple year-round and providing
fruit to customers all over
North America, South Ameri-
ca, Asia, Europe and the Mid-
dle East.
David Leder/For the Capital Press
Joe Evans, operations manager for Evans Fruit Co., examines
a batch of Red Delicious apples as they move down the line in
Tieton, Wash.
“Being
family-owned
and -operated is what sets us
apart, and we all want to carry
on the tradition that my grand-
parents started when they
were young,” said Kimberly
Hiebert, 35, the accounting
and human resources manag-
er who directs the company’s
day-to-day operations along
with her brother, Joe Evans.
“We pride ourselves on fam-
ily, and we believe it takes all
of us to run a successful com-
pany.”
Hiebert’s and Evans’ moth-
er, Barb Evans, works part-
time in the fields and runs her
own small apple orchard.
Now 88 years old, founder
Jeannette Evans remains in-
volved on a daily basis, han-
dling strategic decisions and
helping out in the orchards
and packing plants. Bill Ev-
ans also was involved every
day until he died in late 2016.
Their two daughters, Julie
Evans and Vickie Loges, and
their children also work for
the company, along with a
long line of extended relatives
and family friends.
“A big reason for our
success is that we’re a fami-
ly-owned operation, and we
want to do whatever it takes
to stay on top,” said Joe Ev-
ans, 32, the warehouse and
orchard operations manager.
“We’re a pretty close-knit
group and we have every in-
tention of being around for a
very long time.”
While family has been the
linchpin for success over the
years, Evans Fruit is equally
committed to producing a su-
perior product.
Since the beginning, the
company has targeted spe-
cific strains of fruit and then
combined those varieties with
the best root stocks available.
They meticulously search for
the ideal elevations to plant
their orchards and grow their
fruit in nutrient-rich soils to
produce apples and cherries
that will stand apart for their
flavor and quality.
“We have customers over-
seas who call us asking when
we’re going to start packing
specific apple varieties be-
cause we have found ways to
optimize those varieties,” Joe
Evans said. “We focus on the
best strains available, and our
customers rely on us for that
quality year after year.”
Another point of pride
for the Evans family is that
no other grower in the world
can match their volume of
red apples, including — but
not limited to — Gala, Fuji,
Red Delicious, Braeburn and
Honeycrisp. A new variety,
Cosmic Crisp, will be planted
this spring and be available
for sale in a few years.
Hiebert said Bill Evans al-
ways made a point of telling
his friends and colleagues just
how many red apples Evans
Fruit produced every year.
“He was very proud of the
fact that he was the largest red
apple grower in the world,”
she said.
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