California Tree Ripe Ltd. started as an idea by members of the Nakata family, when they were trying to find a way to market “true tree ripe fruit”. The belief was that consumers were not satisfied with the quality and flavor of tree fruit in their local stores. If given the choice between the green fruit currently on the shelves, or truly ripe fruit which has much better flavor and sugar content, the choice by the overwhelming number of people would be obvious. When research was done, it indeed showed that there was tremendous dissatisfaction with the “hard, green fruit”, found in most stores. In fact many people were so dissatisfied, that they chose to shop for fruit at local fruit stands, farmers markets, or drove to the country in search of road-side fruit stands. But when this information was discussed with the chain buyers, they were completely disinterested.

At the time this research was going on, the Nakata Farms Inc. farming operation was implementing an (I.P.M.) integrated pest management program. This program had progressed so far that the next logical step was to try to farm organically.By merging these two ideas together, the resulting strategy was to see if the markets that catered to the organic consumer would be receptive to the idea of true tree ripe fruit. The answer was overwhelmingly, "YES“. So Ca. Tree Ripe Ltd. was born.
The idea was pitched to a select group of investors. Some decided to invest in Ca. Tree Ripe Ltd. The support of the investors, both monetarily, and emotionally has been a key component in starting this venture.

Also important to the success of this venture has been the strong retailer response and support Ca. Tree Ripe has received. Consumers have been raving about the quality and flavor of the fruit. Consequently demand has been rising weekly in the stores on the Ca. Tree Ripe program. The target stores to share in the program have been independent retailers, natural foods stores, and small chain stores. Recently large chains have begun to show interest.

To insure you are getting “true” tree ripe fruit, just look for the Ca. Tree Ripe label on the fruit in your local store. If they don’t carry our fruit, please ask them to call Mark Nakata (sales) at Ca. Tree Ripe Ltd. The phone number is 1-877-873-3747. A list of stores that are on our program is always available at this web site.

In closing, we are extremely honored and happy you took the time to inquire about our company, and hope you will continue to visit our web site. Updates are added regularly so please keep visiting us. Questions and comments are always welcome so please feel free to e-mail or call us.