L.A. Hearne Company
L.A. Hearne Company is a fourth-generation, family-owned agribusiness in King City, California that processes and markets dry beans (world's largest shipper of canning quality Large Lima Beans), trades grain, sells seed, fertilizer, and feed, and operates a 50-truck fleet serving growers across California's Coastal Valleys.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1938
- HeadquartersKing City, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What L.A. Hearne Company does
L.A. Hearne Company is a privately held, family-owned agricultural enterprise founded in 1938 in King City, California, now operating into its fourth generation. The company is organized as a diversified multi-vertical agribusiness with operating divisions spanning dry bean processing and marketing (its flagship — and the world's largest shipper of canning quality Large Lima Beans), grain purchase and marketing (conventional and organic wheat, barley, oats, and rye), seed sales (cover crop, field, turf, erosion control, and pasture), fertilizer sales and custom application, livestock feed production under the King Feed brand, retail farm and ranch supply stores, and trucking and custom fabrication services. Its 50-truck fleet with diverse trailer configurations (including 19 specialized wine tankers, bottom dumps, end dumps, flat beds, and walking floor trailers) functions as an in-house logistics layer that supports both internal field-to-market operations and external hauling for hire.
The company sells to and procures from agricultural growers across California's Coastal Valleys (a 330-mile span from Morgan Hill to Camarillo), with finished King Brand Beans marketed both domestically and internationally. The customer base is segmented across commercial bean and grain growers, wine industry transportation buyers, retail farm and ranch consumers (through two physical store locations in King City and Salinas plus a San Lucas feed mill), and seed customers across the U.S. Revenue mechanics are predominantly transactional: the company purchases grain and beans from growers for resale, sells fertilizer, seed, and feed at quote-based pricing, earns hauling fees from external trucking customers, and operates retail stores for farm and consumer supplies. The technology base is conventional agricultural processing equipment (cleaning, sorting by size/density/texture/color) and physical fleet assets rather than proprietary software or digital platforms.
L.A. Hearne makes money through margin on commodity processing and resale, transaction fees on grain purchases and trucking services, and direct retail markup on farm and ranch supplies. The go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with a toll-free contact line (800-253-7346), website lead capture across multiple branded microsites, and on-site engagement at processing and retail facilities. The company has no disclosed external investors, no funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no enterprise contract disclosures, consistent with a long-held private family business operating on organic cash-flow economics.
L.A. Hearne Company firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- L.A. Hearne Company
- Legal name
- L.A. Hearne Company
- Website
- https://hearneco.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1938
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- L.A. Hearne Company is a fourth-generation, family-owned agribusiness in King City, California that processes and markets dry beans (world's largest shipper of canning quality Large Lima Beans), trades grain, sells seed, fertilizer, and feed, and operates a 50-truck fleet serving growers across California's Coastal Valleys.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
L.A. Hearne Company industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Services
- NAICS
- Grain and Field Bean Merchant Wholesalers (42451)
- SIC
- Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030), Agricultural Services (700), Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Canned Beans, Legumes & Pulses Manufacturing (AFAKACAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Harvesting & Combining Services (Grain, Oilseed, Row Crop) (AFACAAAD), Bulk Produce & Farm-Direct Wholesale Markets (CRAHAMAJ), Custom Application Logistics & Tendering (Nurse Trucks, Mixing/Loading) (AFACAAAG)
Keywords
Where L.A. Hearne Company is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- King City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
L.A. Hearne Company business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Bean Processing and Sales: Dry bean cleaning, processing, and marketing services. The company receives beans from California growers, processes them through their facilities, and markets finished products domestically and internationally. Handles Large Lima Beans, Baby Lima, Garbanzo, King City Pink, Pinto, Pinquito, Peruanos, and Seed Beans.
- Grain Purchase and Marketing: Purchases and markets both conventional and organic grain including wheat, barley, oats, and rye. Provides custom grain and seed cleaning services with clean, dry storage capabilities.
- Trucking Services: Transportation services for hire including harvest, wine, aggregate, and fertilizer hauling. Operates a fleet of 50 trucks with diverse equipment including wine tankers, bottom dump trailers, end dump trailers, flat beds, and belt/walking floor trailers.
- Fertilizer Sales and Application: Sales of conventional and organic fertilizer with custom blending, application, and consulting services for commercial growers.
- Seed Sales: Sales of cover crop seed, field seeds, lawn and turf seed, erosion control products, insectary mixes, and pasture seed throughout the U.S.
- Feed Sales: King feed products produced locally by a fourth-generation family-owned business with locked formulas.
- Farm and Ranch Supply Retail: Retail sales of farm animal products, pet supplies, ranch fencing, branded apparel, and footwear through company store locations.
- Construction and Fabrication: Custom fabrication services for special agricultural equipment projects, particularly fertilizer application equipment and heavy-duty custom projects.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels2 records
L.A. Hearne Company product offering
Product offeringCore offering
L.A. Hearne Company fundamentally processes and markets dry beans (notably the world's largest canning-quality Large Lima Beans operation), purchases and markets conventional and organic grain, and sells seed, fertilizer, and feed. It complements these physical-product lines with an in-house trucking fleet (50 trucks), custom agricultural equipment fabrication, fertilizer blending and application services, and two retail Farm and Ranch Supply stores. Its grower base is concentrated in California's Coastal Valleys.
Product overview
L.A. Hearne Company is a multi-enterprise agricultural business founded in 1938, organized into distinct business units that operate independently while serving the broader agricultural community. The company's core portfolio includes: Beans (dry bean processing and marketing as the largest shipper of canning quality Large Lima Beans globally); Seed (high quality seeds for cover crops, field, lawn/turf, erosion control, and pasture); Grain (purchasing and marketing conventional and organic wheat, barley, oats, and rye with cleaning and storage services); Fertilizer (conventional and organic sales, custom blending, and application); Feed (King feed brand produced locally); Feed and Ranch Supply Stores (retail stores for farm/ranch supplies); Trucking Services (diverse fleet including 50 trucks and multiple trailer types for agricultural and construction hauling); Wine Tankers (specialized wine transport with 19 tankers); and Construction & Fabrication (custom fabrication for agricultural equipment). The company operates its own trucking fleet as a key differentiator, enabling efficient field-to-market operations across all agricultural product lines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- King Brand Beans: High quality dry beans including Large Lima Beans, Baby Lima, Garbanzo, King City Pink, Pinto, Pinquito, Peruanos, and Seed Beans for planting. Marketed both domestically and internationally.
- King Feed
- Francis' King City Pinks
- Francis' Savory Large Lima (Butter Beans)
Products and services
- Beans (Dry Bean Processing and Marketing) Dry bean processing, cleaning, storage, and marketing services. Handles Large Lima Beans (specialty, world's largest shipper), King City Pinks, Pintos, Baby Lima, Garbanzo, Pinquito, Peruanos, and Seed Beans. Includes custom field services such as planting, cutting, windrowing, and harvesting. Marketed both domestically and internationally.
- Seed
Quantifiable outcome
- World's largest shipper of canning quality Large Lima Beans
Companies that use L.A. Hearne Company
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
L.A. Hearne Company technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
L.A. Hearne Company partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators7 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
L.A. Hearne Company competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Wilbur-Ellis: Large diversified agribusiness with California fertilizer, seed and crop-protection input operations. Overlapping fertilizer blending, custom application, and crop-services portfolio to Hearne's commercial-grower input business.
- J.R. Simplot: Diversified agribusiness with crop input, grain handling and specialty crop divisions across the western U.S. Comparable crop-services and grower-marketing functions to multiple Hearne divisions at meaningful scale.
- Helena Agri-Enterprises: Diversified U.S. agricultural input distributor providing fertilizer, seed, crop protection and agronomy services. Comparable distribution, blending and grower-service capabilities across multiple input categories.
- Nutrien Ag Solutions: Largest U.S. retail crop input provider distributing fertilizer, seed, and crop-protection products with custom application. Comparable fertilizer division overlap and grower-customer base for Hearne's input business.
Direct peers
- Trinidad Benham Corporation: Major dry bean, grain and specialty crop processor with grower-marketing operations across the western U.S. Comparable bean cleaning/blending capabilities and grower contracting, with broader geographic reach than L.A. Hearne.
- Triple S Bean Co. Multi-generation family-owned dry bean processor with cleaning, storage and marketing services for pinto, kidney, black and lima beans. Direct equivalent in business model to L.A. Hearne's flagship bean division.
- Kelley Bean Company: One of the largest U.S. dry bean processors and marketers, handling multiple bean varieties including pinks, pintos, navies and limas. Direct comp to L.A. Hearne's bean cleaning, processing and marketing franchise across grower and food-customer channels.
Emerging players
- Treasure Valley Bean Company: Idaho-based dry bean processor serving specialty lima, garbanzo and seed-bean markets. Comparable niche-pulse processing and marketing model with overlapping commodity exposures to L.A. Hearne's lima and garbanzo operations.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
L.A. Hearne Company social profiles
Digital presenceL.A. Hearne Company financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
L.A. Hearne Company leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
L.A. Hearne Company funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
L.A. Hearne Company 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 L.A. Hearne Company
What does L.A. Hearne Company do?
L.A. Hearne Company fundamentally processes and markets dry beans (notably the world's largest canning-quality Large Lima Beans operation), purchases and markets conventional and organic grain, and sells seed, fertilizer, and feed. It complements these physical-product lines with an in-house trucking fleet (50 trucks), custom agricultural equipment fabrication, fertilizer blending and application services, and two retail Farm and Ranch Supply stores. Its grower base is concentrated in California's Coastal Valleys.
Is L.A. Hearne Company a public or private company?
L.A. Hearne Company is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was L.A. Hearne Company founded?
L.A. Hearne Company was founded in 1938. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is L.A. Hearne Company based?
L.A. Hearne Company is headquartered in King City, United States, in the North America region.
How does L.A. Hearne Company make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Bean Processing and Sales are the primary driver. The others are grain Purchase and Marketing, trucking Services, fertilizer Sales and Application, seed Sales, feed Sales, farm and Ranch Supply Retail and construction and Fabrication.
Who are L.A. Hearne Company's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Wilbur-Ellis, J.R. Simplot, Helena Agri-Enterprises and Nutrien Ag Solutions. Direct peers are Trinidad Benham Corporation, Triple S Bean Co. and Kelley Bean Company. Treasure Valley Bean Company is listed as an emerging player.
Does L.A. Hearne Company have an API?
No public API is recorded for L.A. Hearne Company.
What industry is L.A. Hearne Company in?
L.A. Hearne Company's product category is Agricultural Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAKACAC, Canned Beans, Legumes & Pulses Manufacturing, with a secondary code of AFACAAAD, Harvesting & Combining Services (Grain, Oilseed, Row Crop). Its NAICS code is 42451 and its SIC code is 2030.