Earl's Organic Produce
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1988
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
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.
Earl's Organic Produce firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Earl's Organic Produce industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Earl's Organic Produce is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Earl's Organic Produce business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Wholesale produce pricing varies by variety and size |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Earl's Organic Produce product offering
Product offeringCore 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.
Companies that use Earl's Organic Produce
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Earl's Organic Produce technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Earl's Organic Produce partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Coliman BananascoreFamily-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 FruitcoreDole 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 MangoescorePart 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 StandcoreOrganic 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 FloralcoreSecond-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 BankminorDonates 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 GrowerscoreNetwork 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
Earl's Organic Produce competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Earl's Organic Produce social profiles
Digital presenceEarl's Organic Produce compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Earl's Organic Produce financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Earl's Organic Produce leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Earl's Organic Produce subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Earl's Organic Produce funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Earl's Organic Produce M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Earl's Organic Produce
What does Earl's Organic Produce do?
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.
Is Earl's Organic Produce a public or private company?
Earl's Organic Produce is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Earl's Organic Produce founded?
Earl's Organic Produce was founded in 1988. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Earl's Organic Produce based?
Earl's Organic Produce is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Earl's Organic Produce make money?
One revenue line is on record: wholesale Produce Distribution.
Who are Earl's Organic Produce's main competitors?
Veritable Vegetable is listed as a direct peer. Emerging players are Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods. Broad incumbents are Whole Foods Market, Taylor Farms, FreshPoint and Pro-Act. Covilli Organics is listed as an others. Regional players are Pacific Coast Fruit Company and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative.
Does Earl's Organic Produce have an API?
No public API is recorded for Earl's Organic Produce.
What industry is Earl's Organic Produce in?
Earl's Organic Produce's product category is Wholesale Organic Produce Distribution. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAIACAE, Organic Produce Wholesale, with a secondary code of CRAOAAAK, Natural, Organic & Health Foods Wholesale Distribution. Its NAICS code is 424480 and its SIC code is 5140.