What Jonamac Orchard does

Jonamac Orchard is a four-generation, family-owned apple orchard and pumpkin patch operating since 1984 on a 105-acre site in Malta, Illinois (DeKalb County), serving the Chicagoland suburbs and broader northern Illinois market. The orchard grows over 50 apple varieties across 20+ acres of orchards using low-spray Integrated Pest Management (weather monitoring, pheromone-based mating disruption, targeted spraying, beneficial insect preservation) and produces fresh-pressed apple cider using FDA-certified ultraviolet-light processing rather than heat pasteurization. Beyond apples and pumpkins, the farm maintains a 10-acre corn maze with 3 miles of pathways, an after-hours haunted corn maze, on-site store and bakery (apple cider donuts, pies, caramel apples, fudge, kettle corn), a dedicated Cider House producing the JonaSmack hard cider line and 12+ Jonamac Signature Wines, private campfire site rentals, themed play areas, live music, food trucks, and structured educational tours for school groups.

The business operates as a destination agritourism venue under a direct-to-consumer go-to-market model: weekend and holiday visits require a paid general admission wristband that unlocks most attractions, with additional per-activity Apple Tokens for premium experiences (apple cannon, pony/camel rides, paintball shooters); weekday visits are free but a $5 activity wristband unlocks select play features. Per-unit pricing is publicly disclosed across U-pick apples ($16/half-peck bag), U-pick pumpkins (2 for $20), pre-picked produce ($5–$15), school tours ($8–$15/person tiered), campfire sites ($60–$100 per 3-hour slot), and Thanksgiving pie pre-orders ($5.95–$21.95). Ticketing and tour booking are handled online through TicketSpice and a contact-form-based group tour process. Revenue is generated entirely on-site or through on-farm pickup — there are no third-party retail or distribution channels. Headcount is 11–50, reflecting a lean core supplemented by seasonal staff, and the business is privately held with no external investors, funding rounds, or parent company.

Name

Jonamac Orchard

Legal name

Jonamac Orchard

Website

https://jonamacorchard.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Jonamac Orchard is a four-generation, family-owned 105-acre apple orchard and pumpkin patch in Malta, Illinois that operates a fall-season destination agritourism business, selling U-pick produce, on-site bakery goods, JonaSmack hard ciders, Jonamac wines, campfire rentals, school tours, and attraction admissions directly to Chicagoland families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agritourism and Orchard Farm Experiences

NAICS

Apple Orchards (111331)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Cider & Orchard Fruit Production (Apples/pears for cider & processing) (AFAGACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cideries & Meadery Tasting Rooms (THAFALAI)

Keywords

• Pick-your-own apples
• Apple orchard operations
• Agritourism destination
• Hard cider production
• Farm retail bakery

Headquarters

HQ city

Malta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. General Admission & Activity Fees: Visitors pay general admission wristbands on weekends/holidays to access the farm and most attractions. Additional apple tokens or fees apply for specific activities such as apple cannons, pony rides, and camel rides. Weekday access is free but a $5 activity wristband unlocks certain play features.
2. Apple Picking Sales: Upick apple sales via half-peck picking bags at $16/bag; up to 4 people permitted per bag. Pre-picked apples sold by size at the store.
3. Store & Bakery: On-site retail sales of farm-made products including apple cider donuts, pies (apple, dutch apple, pumpkin, pecan, caramel apple pecan, fruit of the forest), caramel apples, fudge, kettle corn, apple butter, cinnamon swirl bread, and seasonal baked goods. Thanksgiving pie pre-orders placed online.
4. Cider House — Hard Ciders & Wines: On-site tasting room generating revenue from hard cider sales (JonaSmack line — Traditional, Honeycrisp, Heirloom, Brushfire ghost pepper, Dry Hopped, Bourbon Barrel Aged), apple wines (Apple Blossom, Autumn Harvest, Carmel Apple, Honeycrisp Wine, Jonazin, Nosy Neighbor, Orchard Blend, Orchard Reserve, Pomme Nouveau, Friends with Benefits, Red Barn Blush, Pumpkin Wine), flights and tastings, and growlers/howlers. Cider House Tasting Representatives earn serving wage plus tips.
5. Campfire Site Rentals: Private campfire site reservations booked online in three-hour slots; Standard sites at $60 and Grain Bin sites at $100. Optional add-ons include smores kits, roasting sticks, and additional firewood. No outside wood permitted.
6. Haunted Maze Admission: Separate ticketed event for the 10-acre haunted corn maze on Friday and Saturday nights in October; $17 per person, recommended ages 13 and up. Pre-purchase recommended; limited hourly capacity.
7. Pumpkin & Flower Patch: Pick-your-own pumpkins from the patch at 2 for $20 on weekends; pre-picked pumpkins sold by size ($5–$15). Flower field u-pick (closed for 2025 season). Gourds and winter squash sold separately.
8. Group & School Tours: Educators and group organizers book farm tours in advance; four tiers from $8/child (Little Sprouts) to $15/person (General Farm Tour including cider tasting). Add-ons include cider donuts and cider by the gallon.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Jonamac Orchard is a four-generational family farm in Malta, Illinois that grows over 50 apple varieties on more than 20 acres and operates pick-your-own apple and pumpkin patches, a 10-acre corn maze with haunted nights, and an on-site bakery and store. The orchard runs a Cider House that presses UV-processed fresh apple cider and produces its own JonaSmack hard ciders and Jonamac apple wines. Visitors also access family activities (campfire site rentals, play barns, animal barn, live music), school and group educational tours, and seasonal events in the Chicagoland region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• JonaSmack: Hard cider brand featuring products including Heirloom, Brushfire, Honeycrisp, Traditional, Bourbon Barrel Aged, and Dry Hopped hard ciders.
• Jonamac Signature Wines

Products and services

• Pick-Your-Own Apples U-pick apple harvesting on 20+ acres of orchards featuring over 50 apple varieties. Customers purchase a half-peck picking bag ($16, approximately 5.5 lbs) admitting up to four people; all apples must fit in the bag. Available during the fall picking season.
• Pick-Your-Own Pumpkins U-pick pumpkin patch with pumpkins priced 2 for $20 on weekends; pre-picked pumpkins sold by size from $5 to $15 plus specialty pumpkins, gourds, and winter squash. Hayrides to the patch available on weekends.
• Corn Maze 10-acre daytime corn maze with 3 miles of pathways taking an average of 45 to 60 minutes to complete, designed through the Maize Group network with annual themed designs.
• Haunted Corn Maze After-hours haunted version of the corn maze on Friday and Saturday nights in October at $17 per person, recommended ages 13 and up. Limited hourly capacity with last entry at 10pm.
• JonaSmack Hard Ciders On-site produced hard cider line including Traditional, Honeycrisp, Heirloom, Brushfire (ghost pepper), Dry Hopped, and Bourbon Barrel Aged varieties, with the bourbon barrel variant aged in barrels sourced from Whiskey Acres Distilling Co.
• Jonamac Apple Wines On-site produced apple wines including Apple Blossom, Autumn Harvest, Carmel Apple, Honeycrisp Wine, Jonazin, Nosy Neighbor, Orchard Blend, Orchard Reserve, Pomme Nouveau, Friends with Benefits, Red Barn Blush, and Pumpkin Wine.
• Cider House Tasting Room On-site tasting room offering flights, tastings, growlers, and howlers of hard ciders and apple wines. Open Wednesday through Friday 11am to 5pm without admission; weekends require general admission.
• UV-Pressed Fresh Apple Cider Fresh apple cider pressed on-site using approximately 36 apples per gallon, treated with FDA-certified ultraviolet light to eliminate pathogens while preserving fresh apple flavor, with no added sugar or preservatives.
• Farm Store and Bakery On-site retail bakery and store selling farm-made baked goods including apple cider donuts, apple pie, dutch apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, caramel apple pecan pie, fruit of the forest pie, caramel apples, fudge, kettle corn, apple butter, cinnamon swirl bread, and seasonal baked goods. Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm with no admission required.
• Thanksgiving Pie Pre-Orders Holiday pies and bakery items pre-ordered online for scheduled pickup before Thanksgiving, including apple, dutch apple, pumpkin, pecan, caramel apple pecan, and fruit of the forest pies, plus cinnamon swirl bread and apple cider donuts by the dozen.

Quantifiable outcome

• 36 apples pressed per gallon of fresh cider with no added sugar or preservatives
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Wild Onion BreweryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Jonamac partnered with Wild Onion Brewery in Lake Barrington in 2014 to produce their first batches of hard cider and apple ale, marking the beginning of their cider production operations before building the on-site Cider House.
• Prairie State WineryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Following a bumper apple crop in 2013, Jonamac consulted with Prairie State Winery in Genoa for guidance on producing wine from their surplus apples, which led to the launch of their wine program.
• Maize Group / Brett HerbstminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000Jonamac joined the Maize Group led by Brett Herbst in 2000 to design their first professional corn maze with a carved design, transitioning from their initial experimental mower-cut maze created in 1999.
• Whiskey Acres Distilling Co.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJonamac's JonaSmack Bourbon Barrel Aged Hard Cider is aged in bourbon barrels sourced from Whiskey Acres Distilling Co., a local Illinois distillery, adding unique flavor complexity through barrel sourcing.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Honey Hill Orchard: Waterman, IL (DeKalb County) apple orchard and cider producer in the same county as Jonamac — closest geographic peer, overlapping customer base, and similar farm-cider orientation.

Direct peers

• Apple Holler: Sturtevant, WI farm-to-table orchard and family destination with u-pick apples, bakery, restaurant, and events — closely comparable agritourism model serving the greater Chicago/Milwaukee market.
• All Seasons Orchard: Woodstock, IL apple orchard and fall agritourism destination offering u-pick apples, pumpkins, corn maze, and on-site bakery. Closest direct competitor in the Chicagoland pick-your-own market with a similar attraction-driven model.
• Stade's Farm and Market: McHenry, IL family farm with u-pick apples, pumpkins, corn maze, and a large farm market — directly comparable agritourism model and geography, including bakery and on-farm store.
• Edwards Apple Orchard: Poplar Grove, IL apple orchard offering u-pick apples, pumpkins, bakery, and cider — comparable scale, geography, and product mix in the same northern Illinois/Chicago metro catchment.
• Royal Oaks Farm and Pumpkin Patch: Amboy, IL agritourism farm with apple orchard, pumpkin patch, and family activities — comparable Illinois destination orchard competing for the same Chicago day-trip audience.
• Kroll's Fall Harvest: Waukegan, IL area fall farm with pumpkin picking, corn maze, and apple-related activities — a regional direct competitor in the same Chicago north-shore/suburban catchment.
• Goebbert's Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard: Hampshire, IL fall destination combining a pumpkin patch, apple orchard, corn maze, and animal barn — a direct competitor for Chicago-area fall family outings.

Broad incumbents

• Michigan Apple Committee / Michigan agritourism orchards (e.g., Blake's Orchard): Blake's Orchard & Cider Mill is a multi-generational Michigan orchard with hard cider production, u-pick, and large-scale fall agritourism — an aspirational scale model for Jonamac's Cider House and destination strategy.
• Virtue Cider: Michigan-based craft hard cider producer — comparable on the Cider House product side, illustrating a scaled, distribution-oriented cider brand Jonamac's JonaSmack line could aspire to in packaged channels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jonamacorchard
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jonamac-orchard-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

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 Jonamac Orchard