Mike Martines, president of Martines Fruits & Vegetables, Inc., has been in the snow and snap pea growing and distribution business for more than 30 years, beginning in 1983. What began as selling sticks and string to local growers in the San Luis Obispo area of Central California evolved into a large multi-country growing operation. Martines Fruits & Vegetables, Inc., as a well-established company, has seen many changes in the industry over the years; most recently with the onset of the processing, cutting and pre-packaging product business. In the beginning, peas, both snows and snaps, were a small niche, specialty crop going to restaurants and street sales.
In the last 15 years, with companies such as Fresh Express using the product in salads and Mann Packing having prepacked stringless snaps, we have seen an increase in consumption and a shift in our customer base. Peas have become more mainstream, with consumer product recognition increasing. With these changes, Martines Fruits and Vegetables, Inc. has become more of a specialty company in the sense that 90% of our business is geared towards servicing processors.
Our attention to quality and detail, with a secondary sort for processors, is what lead to this change. We have been supplying processors such as Taylor Fresh Vegetables, Mann Packing, MCL/Trader Joes, and Fresh Express for over 17 years. We also have open market companies that we ship to throughout the year. At this point in time we are strictly growers, we do not ship any prepackaged items to the retailers directly.
We have taken the growing process to the next level for peas. Our fields are Primus GFSI certified or Global GAP. With our strict in house quality assurance program, we are able to ensure our customers that their product is top of the market quality. Our unique combination of personal attention, quality assurance, and delivered sales has enabled us to be the best choice on the market today. We grow and ship under the M & M label in California, Mexico and Guatemala.
Stringless snaps are harvested by hand, packed in totes, sorted at the field tables and packed into reusable totes or boxes. The product is then shipped in refrigerated trucks to the customer or a cooler in Salinas. Every situation and every customer is different and we try to be very flexible and respectful of that. We are more than happy to make every effort to facilitate any request that our customers have.
Currently, we are growing over 2,000 acres of peas annually. That number can always be adjusted as per our contract needs. We are always up to the challenge of increasing acres and bringing on new customers. We prefer to establish contracts at least five - six months in advance, considering the time it takes to plant/grow the product.
Martines Fruits & Vegetables
