Earl's Organic Produce

What Earl's Organic Produce does

Earl's Organic Produce is a wholesale distributor of certified organic fruits, vegetables, and floral products headquartered at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. Founded by Earl Herrick in 1988, the company operates from a 60,000 square foot facility with four climate-specific coolers designed to maintain produce freshness across diverse temperature requirements. The business is the sole CCOF-certified organic handler on the SF Wholesale Produce Market and sources from over 200 grower partners, including multi-generational California family farms (Covilli, Dwelley, Frog Hollow, Burkart, Tutti Frutti) and international Fair Trade suppliers (Coliman, Dole, Crespo). A secondary product line, California Floral, extends the organic and sustainable sourcing model into cut flowers with 24-hour harvest-to-delivery logistics.

The company's revenue model is wholesale B2B distribution under per-case unit pricing, with examples such as Gem Avocado at $53/case and Fuji Apple at $67/case. Earl's serves over 400 customers across three primary segments: retail grocery stores, restaurants and chefs, and institutional food service operations. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales with direct account relationships, weekly buyer's notes newsletters, and seasonal marketing resources (POS cards, stone fruit calendars, handling guides). Marketing emphasis is placed on education about seasonality, geography, and grower stories through a content-driven blog (Vegucation, Seasonal Eats, Meet the Growers) and Instagram presence. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies by variety, size, and customer-specific terms.

Earl's is independently owned and bootstrapped, with no venture capital, private equity, or parent company involvement indicated. The company holds CCOF organic certification, QIMA WQS food safety certification, Certified California Green Business status, and is an inaugural Clean Power SF Super Green Program member, achieving 96% waste diversion and donating over 500,000 lbs of produce annually. Founder Earl Herrick remains active in leadership, and the management team includes a Director of Sales & Purchasing and a Marketing Manager.

Name

Earl's Organic Produce

Legal name

Earl's Organic Produce

Website

https://earlsorganic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Earl's Organic Produce is a wholesale B2B distributor of certified organic fruits, vegetables, and floral products based at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. Founded in 1988, it sources from 200+ growers and serves 400+ retailers, restaurants, and food service customers across the Bay Area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Organic Produce Distribution

NAICS

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers (424480)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Organic Produce Wholesale (AFAIACAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Natural, Organic & Health Foods Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAAAK), Fresh Organic Produce Wholesale (AFAIAJAA), Natural & Organic Foods Distribution (CRAOABAH)

Keywords

• Wholesale organic produce
• Organic fruit distribution
• Organic vegetable distribution
• Certified organic handler
• Bay Area produce supplier

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Produce Distribution: B2B wholesale distribution of organic fruits, vegetables, and floral products to retailers, restaurants, and food service customers. Products sold by variety with per-case pricing. Distribution from San Francisco warehouse to Bay Area customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Earl's Organic Produce is a wholesale distributor of certified organic fruits, vegetables, and floral products, sourcing from over 200 growers and supplying over 400 retailers, restaurants, and food service customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area from its 60,000 square foot climate-controlled warehouse on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The company also operates the California Floral sub-brand, delivering organic California-grown cut flowers within 24 hours of harvest.

Product overview

Earl's Organic Produce is a wholesale organic produce distributor operating a single unified distribution service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is organic fruits and vegetables sourced from over 200 California growers, distributed through a 60,000 square foot climate-controlled warehouse facility in San Francisco. A secondary product line, California Floral, extends the company's sustainable agriculture mission into the floral category, supporting local small-scale California flower growers with organic and regenerative flowers. The company also publishes weekly specials and seasonal buying guides as informational resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• California Floral: Earl's California Floral program supports small local California floral growers, offering organic tulips, roses, sunflowers, ranunculus, and floral bouquets. The program promotes sustainable California floral industry practices and supports small family farms.

Products and services

• Wholesale Organic Produce Full line of certified organic fruits and vegetables distributed wholesale from Earl's 60,000 square foot warehouse in San Francisco to over 400 retailers, restaurants, and food service customers in the Bay Area, sourced from over 200 grower partners and including stone fruit, citrus, grapes, vegetables, and specialty items.
• California Floral (Organic Cut Flowers)
• Fair Trade Organic Produce Line Wholesale Fair Trade certified organic produce, including bananas, pineapples, and mangoes, sourced from growers in Mexico, Costa Rica, and other origins, providing wholesale buyers with certified ethical sourcing options that command community-development premiums.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Coliman BananascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFamily-owned Mexican banana company with over 50 years of experience. Earl's imports 2 truckloads (40 pallets, 76,800 lbs) of Fair Trade Organic bananas weekly from Colima, Mexico. Partnership supports fair wages, safe working conditions, and community development through Fair Trade Premium funding of the Don Jorge Aguilar Heredia Sociocultural Complex serving over 5,000 people.
• Dole Fresh FruitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDole Fair Trade Organic Pineapples from Costa Rica available year-round. Fair Trade certification ensures rigorous social, environmental, and economic standards. Farm workers earn additional premium to invest in community development projects including Education Centers in Costa Rica.
• Crespo Organic MangoescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of El Grupo Crespo, a Mexican family business growing, shipping, and marketing organic mangoes. Crespo is one of the largest Mexican direct-trade growers and direct consumer educators of organic mangoes in North America. Partnership includes annual Summer Mango Mania marketing campaign.
• Earthbound Farm StandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganic and regenerative flower grower in Carmel Valley, California. Partner for Earl's California Floral program supporting small local California floral growers. Grows flowers with a philosophy of farming with nature, building soil health, and increasing biodiversity.
• Pajarosa FloralcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSecond-generation family-owned cut rose operation in Watsonville, California. Located against Santa Cruz Mountains foothills offering ideal coastal microclimate for year-round rose production. 100% American grown with sustainable practices.
• San Francisco Food BankminorOthersDonates over 500,000 lbs of produce yearly to food recovery programs including San Francisco Food Bank and SF Produce Market Food Recovery program.
• Over 200 California GrowerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of over 200 organic growers across California including multi-generational family farms. Includes partnerships with Dwelley Farms (Brentwood), Frog Hollow Farm (Brentwood), Balakian Farms (Reedley), Burkart (Dinuba), Sunny Cal Farms (Reedley), and many others specializing in heirloom and specialty varieties.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Veritable Vegetable: San Francisco-based organic produce wholesale distributor founded in 1974, serving retailers, restaurants, and food service across Northern California. Earl's most direct Bay Area competitor with a similar mission-driven, sustainability-focused model and B2B organic produce focus.

Emerging players

• Misfits Market: Online DTC grocer focused on organic and specialty produce, pantry, and sustainable food items at discount pricing. Adjacent player with similar sustainability positioning and growing organic assortment — channel-side competitor for organic consumer attention.
• Imperfect Foods: Online direct-to-consumer subscription service selling 'ugly' and surplus produce to reduce food waste. Different channel (DTC vs B2B wholesale) but overlapping organic/sustainability mission and similar produce sourcing — represents channel-side disruption to organic produce distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Whole Foods Market: Amazon-owned national organic and natural foods retailer with significant Bay Area store density and a vertically integrated produce supply chain. Sets the price/sourcing benchmark against which Earl's independent customers (retailers and restaurants) compete.
• Taylor Farms: One of the largest producers and distributors of value-added fresh produce in North America, based in Salinas, California. While primarily known for packaged salads and fresh-cut produce, Taylor Farms operates extensive distribution that overlaps with Earl's at the buyer level in California.
• FreshPoint: Largest national fresh produce distributor in North America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sysco. Operates dozens of distribution centers across the U.S., serving foodservice and retail with full-line produce including organic programs — the scale incumbent Earl's competes against in the Bay Area.
• Pro-Act: National network of locally-owned produce distributors serving foodservice customers across the U.S. Operates through regional member distributors with shared procurement, food safety, and logistics — competes in the same B2B produce distribution category with greater geographic reach.

Others

• Covilli Organics: Mexican grower-shipper of organic produce featured as a partner on Earl's website. Functions as both an upstream supplier and an indirect comparable for organic produce distribution in the cross-border produce trade.

Regional players

• Pacific Coast Fruit Company: Portland, Oregon-based fresh produce distributor serving the Pacific Northwest retail and foodservice market. Comparable regional wholesale produce model with grower relationships, multi-temperature storage, and direct-store delivery — analogous regional peer.
• Rainbow Grocery Cooperative: Worker-owned organic and natural foods grocery store in San Francisco, one of Earl's largest Bay Area customers and a channel through which Earl's produce reaches end consumers. A customer-competitor dynamic makes it a relevant comparable.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/earlsorganic
• Xx.com/earlsorganic

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Earl's Organic Produce