The Fruit Company is an American company that was founded in 1942 by Roy Webster. The company, still privately owned and led by CEO Scott Webster, has become known for their "classic baskets and gift towers featuring Northwest-grown pears and apples". The company also provides support to college students through "The Roy Webster Scholarship" and "The Fruit Company Gift Basket Entrepreneur Award".

History

Roy Webster, who had once toured the

Hood River Valley Hood River Valley is the river basin of Hood River in northern Oregon, U.S. It is bounded by the Columbia River to the north, Mount Hood to the south, the Cascade Range crest to the west and an apparently unnamed ridge system to the east whic ...

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, came to the area in 1942 and acquired of land. The company, then named Webster Orchards, originally specialized in Comice pears and, in the following years, began running a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

service to distribute their signature pears across the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. The company eventually passed to Roy Webster's son, Wayne Webster, who then passed the company to sons Scott and Addison Webster in 1999. Under the management of the Webster brothers, Webster Orchards became The Fruit Company and began selling fruit under "The World's Finest Fruit" trademark. In 1986, the Webster brothers purchased the Diamond Fruit packing warehouse to establish the Fruit Company's permanent

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. Scott Webster is currently the company's CEO, and President of Roy Webster Orchards Incorporated. The company saw a period of financial hardship during the

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and was forced to lay off 30% of its employees and make other cutbacks. However, after overhauling their cost structure and earning the support of

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

as one of their primary fruit basket suppliers, the company resumed its growth. The Fruit Company is also a part of Hood River County's famous "Fruit Loop", a driving tour that stops at family farms and fruit stands.

Awards and accolades

The company has been recognized by various organizations and publications throughout the years. The company was selected by

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

to be part of their "Holiday O List" in 2003. In 2005, The Fruit Company was named one of the "Top 50 Best of the Web" for online retailing websites by Internet Retailer Magazine, and in 2013,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

news outlet

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

praised The Fruit Company for their Mother's Day gift baskets on the air. The company has also been named one of Oregon's top 15 companies.

References

External links

The Fruit Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruit Company Companies based in Hood River, Oregon Retail companies of the United States Privately held companies based in Oregon Mail-order retailers American companies established in 1942 1942 establishments in Oregon Food and drink companies established in 1942

History

Awards and accolades

See also

References

External links