Sunrise Fresh is a 4th Generation, family-owned company located in Linden, California. 

Our family has been farming for more than 100 years since my grandfather emigrated from Italy in the early 1900’s following the San Francisco earthquake.  He settled in the fertile San Joaquin Valley in Central California and began farming.

by Jane Samuel

After marrying my mother in 1942, my father, a “city kid”, relocated from San Jose, CA.  Soon after, World War II intervened and my father joined the Navy, serving in the Fighting SeaBees.  After the war, he joined my mother’s family farming business in Linden.  They farmed carrots, beets, tomatoes, grain, and dry beans, before planting orchards, including peaches, walnuts and cherries.

The idea of ‘drying’ our fresh sweet cherries began on the ranch, as my father was an advocate of value-added products.  He achieved his desire through a lifetime commitment in the maraschino cherry industry and in the 1980’s, built a facility to process maraschino cherries.  He never stopped working on other avenues to promote California Cherries.

Upon my father retiring, my husband, Jim, and I began our own journey in the agriculture industry.  We continue to farm my parent’s original Cherry and Walnut orchards that were planted in 1954.  We have also redeveloped some areas of the ranch by planting Coral and Rainier Cherries and Chandler Walnuts.

Helping with many of the ranch duties are our three sons: Jacob, Zachary and Case. They have grown up alongside the magnificent trees that grace our orchards and they developed a love for farming as well as for our philosophy of respecting the land we farm. We feel we are stewards of the land, a partner with Mother Nature. 

My father had instilled the idea of a ‘value-added’ product in us, but the question remained: how can we promote our dark, sweet cherries on a year-round basis to the health-conscious world we live in?  We decided to try ‘drying’ our dark sweets with No Preservatives, No Additives and No Added Sugar – and now we could promote them to the world! 

With the 4th generation entering into the family business, we grew up alongside the magnificent trees that grace our orchards and developed a love for farming as well as for our philosophy of respecting the land we farm. We feel we are stewards of the land, a partner with Mother Nature.

We look forward to sharing all of our Healthy Dried Fruits with you – from our family to yours!

Please enjoy the fruits of our labor – Just the fruit – and nothing else!