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San Francisco Chronicle​

Sonoma County was built on fruit trees. Now, the last cannery is leaving

Inside one of the nation's largest organic apple canneries, glass jars rumble down conveyor belts to robot arms delivering squirts of apple juice, apple sauce and apple cider vinegar. A hulking stainless steel machine fills plastic fruit pouches before they tumble down the line to be pasteurized and cooled. Manzana Products Co. started nearly a century ago as a fruit drying hub in Sebastopol's Green Valley, at a time when fruit trees far outnumbered grapevines. It grew into a major apple processing plant. But Sonoma County's apple harvest has been declining for decades, and today most of Manzana's apples are trucked in from Washington State farms. 'If we want to be here another 100 years, we need to move,' Manzana chief executive officer Andy Kay said. Kay said many factors led to the decision, which the company has been considering for years. Manzana (which means apple in Spanish) was locally owned until 2012 when Agrial, a large French agricultural cooperative, purchased the company as a beachhead into U.S. farming. Manzana wanted to grow, Kay said, but the company couldn't expand at its current site, which is hemmed in by farmlands and rural roads. Another issue was the high cost of doing business in California — taxes, gas prices and regulatory costs, among them, all worsened by high inflation in 2021 and 2022 — versus Washington state, where most domestic apples are grown. The organic apple industry isn't declining — far from it, said Kay. It just isn't in California. The apple's heyday in Sonoma County came in the 1940s and 1950s when nearly 15,000 acres of apple orchards bloomed each spring — long before winegrapes took over Sonoma County's farmlands. Elementary schools bear names like Apple Blossom and Gravenstein, after the flavorful varietal promulgated by famed horticulturalist Luther Burbank. An estimated 2,000 acres of productive apple orchards remain. The 2023 apple harvest was worth just under $3.6 million, compared to a winegrape crop worth more than $716 million. Manzana has for generations been a reliable buyer for the region's apple farms, which are comprised of a few large plantations like Dutton Ranch and numerous smaller backyard orchards. Many Manzana employees' families have worked for the company for generations. Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Andrew Smith said that while apples have been a valuable crop, the sector has been stagnant for decades, in part because much of the harvest comes from small backyard orchards. Smith expects smallscale orchard owners will find it harder than larger growers to survive without a local processing plant. Manzana's departure is the latest in a series of hits to Sonoma County agriculture, a lasting bastion of farms and ranches that is still the most productive in the Bay Area. A string of longtime dairies closed in the last several years, and poultry farms have been rocked by the avian influenza and persistent animal rights protests. Even wine grape farmers have struggled to sell their harvests. 'We're at a point of an agriculture crisis,' Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said. Hopkins said she's regularly hearing from farmers, ranchers and producers who are scraping by — and from laborers who can't find work. Soaring expenses, stringent California regulations, steep taxes compared to nearby states, and sluggish alcohol sales have driven many businesses to the brink. Some apple farmers are putting their hopes into hard ciders, with several top brands headquartered in Sebastopol — including nationally distributed Ace Cider and Golden State Cider, a leading brand statewide, plus many other smaller makers in Sonoma County like Goat Rock, Horse & Plow and Tilted Shed. Both Smith and Hopkins said that if orchards go fallow, especially small backyard plots, they could become breeding grounds for pests, especially the prime enemy of the apple: the coddling moth. 'Your neighbor's coddling moths are your coddling moths,' said Carole Flaherty, who has about 200 trees at her farm outside Sebastopol. Donning a hair net, protective goggles, white coat and ear plugs in a Manzana warehouse, Kay walked through a bustling work bay, waving at employees working the machines. The company uses only organic fresh apples grown on American farms — about 20% in Sonoma County and the other 80% in Washington State. Manzana's North Coast brand apple products stands out on grocery store shelves because they are made from fresh apples — not concentrates. Kay said it no longer made sense, either financially or environmentally, to truck apples hundreds of miles from Washington to Sebastopol. The company is planning to phase out operations at the Sebastopol warehouse gradually through the end of 2026. He said Manzana has offered jobs to local workers willing to move, and some have jumped at the opportunity to move to a less expensive area. The company has signed contracts to continue buying Sonoma County apples and truck them north through 2029. Manzana is refurbishing a Washington warehouse that is nearly double the size and located on a rail spur, which is expected to lower transportation costs for materials, ingredients and finished products. Kay said more consumers are reaching for organic products and the company wants to get North Coast branded juice, sauce and vinegar on more grocery stores shelves across the country. 'We have big plans,' he said. A short, winding drive west on narrow country roads from Manzana's warehouse, the Dutton family has been farming Granvesteins and other popular varieties like Jonathans and Golden Delicious since the 1960s. Behind the wheel of an extended cab pickup on his family's Graton ranch, Joe Dutton turned off a dirt road and navigated between pinot noir and sauvignon blanc vines to rows of gnarled 75-year-old trees. Gravensteins are delicate and easily bruised, and best suited for local farmers markets or to be made into pies, juice and sauce. 'Tart, sweet — incomparable,' Dutton said, pointing out tiny green clusters of baby apples. Wine grapes have gradually replaced orchards on Dutton Ranch, but the farm still produces about 200 acres of apples and just replaced a patch of less productive Rome Beauties with young Gravensteins. For Dutton and his brother Steve, their decision is part nostalgia for their childhoods on the family apple farm. But it's also practical: The trees need tending during lulls in grape growing, which keeps their workforce employed fulltime throughout a 10-month farming season. Joe Dutton said he's not surprised or alarmed by Manzana's departure because he's hopeful Manzana's expansion plans means it will continue needing Sonoma County fruit. 'I take a long view,' he said. Four miles south of Manzana at Quail Run Orchard, Flaherty has about 200 trees including old and gnarled Gravensteins dating back to 1915 and young trees with their most productive years ahead. Like many small orchard owners, Flaherty contracted with a farmer who cared for her apples and sold them to Manzana, but she said he quit after learning that the company planned to leave, so Flaherty's not sure what she will do with this year's bounty. She said small farmers are discussing their options and batting around ideas like collaborating on a mobile apple processor or leasing unused wine production space. 'I'm afraid we're going to lose a lot of orchards — and we've already lost a lot,' Flaherty said.