River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC is one of the Big Five fresh produce processors in the United States. With two major state-of-the-art processing and cooling facilities, one in Salinas, California, and one in El Centro, California, the company maintains year-round operations.
The origins of River Ranch are linked to one of the oldest lettuce-producing and shipping companies in the Salinas area, the Bruce Church Company. River Ranch, known originally as Fresh Western Marketing, has taken Salinas' strong agricultural heritage into the future by generating technological and marketing innovations. River Ranch is now locally operated by the senior management team, which provides clear direction & initiatives for the company.
River Ranch is the leading processor of private brand and River Ranch salads, Popeye Fresh! spinach salads and River Ranch fresh-cut vegetables as well as a broad-line shipper of high quality commodity products to retail, club and foodservice customers throughout North America.
With a strong and growing market share, River Ranch is currently a leading supplier of private brand value-added produce items in the North American marketplace. River Ranch’s product offerings range from traditional garden salads and salad blends to complete salad kits, spinach salads and cabbage items in rigid and flexible packaging.
River Ranch is the home of America’s favorite brand of spinach “Popeye Fresh!” King Features Syndicate, a global leader in merchandising and licensing, signed an exclusive 20-year licensing agreement with River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC in 2002. This agreement allows River Ranch to use the Popeye name and family of characters including the right to sell fresh salads and vegetable items throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico branded with the “Popeye & Friends” images and names. The Popeye brand offers the most complete, nationally distributed product line in the Fresh Spinach segment.
The company focuses on its position as a value-added shipper for retail, club, and foodservice industries. While cut vegetables and packaged salads are a large part of River Ranch’s current business, the company still maintains a strong presence in the fresh bulk commodity business, including head lettuce, romaine, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, and numerous other commodity items.
River Ranch has always been very involved with our local communities and it has supported community events including the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, California Rodeo, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital’s Children’s Miracle Network, National Steinbeck Center, Women’s Crisis Center, Special Olympics, California International Air Show, Monterey County Agricultural Education, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, ARIEL Children's Theatre, Jacob's Heart Children’s Cancer Association and the Monterey County Fair.
