Wishnatzki Farms
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| Privately held company | |
| Founded | New York City, |
| Headquarters | Plant City, Florida, United States |
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Key people
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Gary Wishnatzki (CEO) |
| Products | Produce |
| Website | Wish Farms |
Wish Farms is a produce shipping and growing company based in Plant City, Florida. The company is the largest producer and shipper of strawberries in Florida.
In 1900, Harris Wishnatzki immigrated from Russia to New York City and began selling fruits and vegetables from a pushcart where he met fellow pushcart peddler, Daniel Nathel.
Over the next 22 years, Wishnatzki and Nathel both grew their businesses to large pushcart fleets, selling produce on the streets in New York City. In 1922, they decided to join forces – and from this, the business, Wishnatzki & Nathel was born.
During the late 1920s Wishnatzki was making regular trips to Florida to purchase produce. Seven years later in 1929, Harris Wishnatzki moved to Florida to establish the produce shipping operation in Plant City. Nathel remained in New York City.
In Florida, Wishnatzki envisioned bringing fresh strawberries to fruit-deprived consumers in the northern states during the winter months. Challenges with transporting perishable goods were eventually overcome and the company's New York City hub began distributing fresh fruit. Thanks to Wishnatzki, Plant City growers gained access to large American markets.
In 1955, the second generation Wishnatzkis, Joe and Lester, joined the business. When Harris Wishnatzki died in 1955, he passed company leadership to two of his sons.
In 1974, third generation Gary Wishnatzki, Harris’ grandson, began working for the company. In 1987, Gary developed the growing operation to help supplement produce supplies to the shipping business. The company began purchasing its own farms that same year. By 1990, Gary Wishnatzki became president of the company.
In 2001, the Wishnatzki and Nathel families mutually agreed to split the companies with the Wishnatzkis overseeing the Florida division. The company was named Wishnatzki Farms and focused on growing and shipping produce.
In 2007, Wishnatzki Farms entered into the strawberry processing business and opened a processing facility to supplement outsourced production capacity. A year later, VirtualOne, an extension of Wish Farms, introduced FreshQC™, a patented solution for traceability. Wish Farms uses the FreshQC™ How’s My Picking?™ program to ensure quality by tying consumer feedback to the harvest time, field location, and picker.
Today, Wish Farms owns and operates over 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) of farmland, primarily in Manatee County, Florida, and Hillsborough County, Florida. Over 6 million packages of fresh fruit and vegetables were delivered annually in 2010. Approximately half of Wish Farms' output is in strawberries, which are produced with both organic and traditional (i.e., using fertilizers and pesticides) approaches.
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Wikipedia