The Ricchiuti family story begins with a voyage from Vincenzo Ricchiuti’s native Italy. Vincenzo set foot on fertile American soil in the year 1914. This is where he would plant the seeds of a family business, which would eventually grow for generations. A vegetable grower by trade, he knew that diversification would be the key to long term success. He and his wife, Loretta, would nurture the land, and through their hard work and commitment to quality, the business prospered. With this in mind, Vincenzo planted the first family acreage with grapes and figs.
Benefited by his father’s wisdom, Pat Ricchiuti began his career as a grower, packer, shipper after returning home from serving his country in 1946. With the help and support of his wife, Frances, they continued to diversify their business by planting plums and cotton. This proved to be the beginning of the expansion which Pat Ricchiuti envisioned. His goal for the newly founded P-R Farms, Inc. in 1956 was to bring forth growth while maintaining quality at every juncture. Ultimately, P-R Farms, Inc. became incorporated in 1963.
The Ricchiutis’ first tree fruit packing facility was located on their Clovis homestead at Fowler and Shields. For many decades this was the hub of their business. As the town started to expand to the north, so did the Ricchiuti holdings. In 1973, Pat, Frances, and their son Patrick oversaw the construction of a new, state-of-the-art, cold storage and packing house on the corner of Shepherd and Willow. The P-R Farms, Inc. label quickly became known worldwide for premium quality peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, apples, citrus, grapes, almonds, and olives.
Today, the Ricchiuti Family Farms operation also includes a retail store – ENZO’S TABLE, an almond hulling and processing plant in Madera, and a newly-completed olive oil milling facility that produces and bottles extra virgin organic olive oil under the label ENZO.