MANTECA — No agricultural commodity is more associated with autumn than the pumpkin. And in California, no area grows more of them than San Joaquin County, which produces 80 percent of the state’s pumpkins.
The climate around Manteca is particularly good for pumpkins. But It’s the people who have made the industry a big success.
“We’ve got some very innovative growers here in this county who decided to settle here and grow pumpkins,” said Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Gary Stockel.
Click to view photo gallery of pumpkin harvest.
One of the west coast’s largest growers and distributors of pumpkins, (as well as watermelons and squash) is Manteca-based George Perry and Sons.
Co-owner Art Perry said this year’s crop looks like it will be at least as good as last year’s, especially in terms of quality.
“I think we got the right weather at the right time. It’s cooled off,” Perry said. “If you get too much heat during the shipping time, it’s not good.”
Perry said his farms were fortunate to have enough water this year.
“We were lucky this year. We were in the areas where we survived with the water, Perry said. “If you were down south, you were in trouble.”
George Perry and Sons has decades of farming experience. The company traces its roots back to 1925, when Azores immigrant Delphino Vierra “D.V.” Perry set up a dairy on 30 acres near Manteca. He also grew fruits and vegetables to sell at a roadside stand. His son, George, who was 2 when they moved to Manteca, expanded the business with his sons. They later sold the dairy to focus on growing crops on what is now 6,500 acres.
People magazine dubbed George the “Pumpkin King” in its November 1982 issue. Now 95, he was instrumental in establishing the Manteca Pumpkin Festival, now called the Kiwanis Sunrise Pumpkin Fair, to which George Perry and Sons regularly donates pumpkins.
His son, Art doesn’t like to talk about how much produce the company grows and moves, but consider this: in 2013, San Joaquin County harvested and sold 54,000 tons of pumpkins with a gross value of $16.2 million, according to the latest crop report. The agricultural commissioner’s office says it’s the work of just a handful of companies, and George Perry and Sons is one of the largest.
“Ninety percent of the pumpkins stay in California; the rest are shipped to other states and overseas,” Art Perry said. “The pumpkins go to major supermarket chains, wholesalers and pumpkin patches.”
County agriculture officials say the Perry name is well known throughout the state and associated with pumpkins.
“You can go into any grocery store in California and see their label on the side of the bin,” said San Joaquin County Farm Bureau Executive Director Bruce Blodgett. “A lot of produce moves out of this county because of this family.”
Thirteen family members work for the company. George Perry and Sons now belongs to six partners and their families. There’s Art Perry and his wife, Dianne; Art’s son, Ron, and his wife, Linda; Art’s daughter, Karen, and her husband, Joe Widmer; George Perry, Jr. and his wife, Gail; their son George M. Perry and his wife, Melissa; and Paul Gomes and his wife, Jenny.
George Sr. was inducted into the San Joaquin County Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2006. Several members of the Perry family have been inducted into the Manteca Hall of Fame, including George, Sr. in 1999, Art Perry in 2005, and Gail Perry in 2010.
Art Perry is credited with developing the higher quality and sizing standards in the pumpkin and watermelon industries now used throughout the country. Gail Perry is known as one of the top salespeople in both industries in the United States.
Paul Gomes went to work at George Perry and Sons in 1986 at 18. He became an active partner 10 years ago and was fully vested two years ago.
“I was going to start farming on my own to have something for my family. Art said ‘No, you’ll stay here with us. This will become yours.’ I’ve always wanted to farm. I realized you can’t do everything by yourself. I like coming full circle and doing it all together. It’s like being a part of Art’s dream but living my dream, too,” Gomes said. He noted that his older son, Josh, also joined the company at 18, and now attends college with the intention of bringing back agricultural expertise.
“The leadership of the elders is key. It’s a lot of give and take, and a lot of forgiveness. It started with George Sr., and Art carries it forward very strongly. He always aims to protect a person’s dignity.” Gomes added. “People still work here, and people want to come work here. That’s not something I want to change. We are molding the younger generation. With my boys, I taught them what I learned: ‘Would you rather be right or happy?’ ”
Dell’Osso Family Farms in Lathrop has sold its pumpkins to George Perry and Sons for about 35 years. It sells about 150 truckloads (2,500 tons of pumpkins) a year, which is about 90 percent of what it grows. The rest are used for its own October Festival pumpkin patch.
“We’re so fortunate to be a part of the Perry group. They are without a doubt the most honest, sincere people to deal with. If they owe us a dollar, they’ll pay us $1.01,” Ron Dell’Osso said.
“They have a lot of family members working together, and usually family barely gets along under one roof. If you walk into their office, everybody gets along,” he observed. “It makes you wonder what they’re drinking that allows them to have that positive attitude all the time. They really are role models for how to conduct yourself in business and in life.”
“We want to do things honest and fair to the best of our ability. If we continue to do so, this company will succeed. If we deviate, there will be problems,” said Art Perry. “What we stand for are our faith in God and our belief in our extended family, which includes our growers, our buyers, and the people who work with us, from truckers to seed sales people, and everyone involved in production.”
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