A Fresh Legacy

Record-breaking low temperatures and snow hit Oregon, and many of the apple trees in the Hood River Valley freeze. Growers replace many of their crops with pears.`

Roy and Olive Webster come to Hood River from New York and buy land, soon to be known as Webster Orchards. They sell apples and pears nationwide via mail orders. In the same year, Webster and his friends first swim across the Columbia River Channel. The swim becomes an annual event.

Webster Orchards builds their first cold storage facility on Van Horn Drive in Hood River.

Roy turns the business over to his son Wayne. Webster Orchards expands by adding more pear trees.

This is a time of expansion and innovation. Wayne and Mary and cherry orchards, expand their pear orchards and develop a new style of planting on hillsides.

The Hood River Country Fruit Loop is organized, bringing tourists to Hood River's fruit producers.

Scott and Addison divert some capital and launch The Fruit Company in their parent's basement. November 1, 1999 was the first day of online business.

Growth is strong and the business moves into the Old Diamond Fruit packing warehouse, a 161,000 square-foot building at 2900 Van Horn Drive in Hood River.

Oprah Magazine choose the Fruit Company's Holiday Peer Mixer for its Holiday O list.

Webster Orchards purchase eighty-two acres of cherry trees in Mosier, Oregon. The Fruit Company now packs and ships fresh cherries.

Fruit Friday, a weekly event where the public is invited to The Fruit Company to purchase excess inventory of gourmet foods and fruit at substantial savings, is established. If you are in Hood River on a Friday, please join us anytime between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm.

The Fruit Company purchases an additional thirty acres in Parkdale, Oregon, and plants the land with blueberries.

The Fruit Company proudly continues our family’s tradition of excellence, innovation and sustainability. Each season our gifts are bursting with a carefully curated selection of the highest quality fruit and artisanal products made by award-winning regional producers.