The J. Marchini Farms Story
J. Marchini Farms is a fairly new company—founded in 1989—but its roots go back as far as 1920, when Florindo Marchini made the long and uncertain journey from Lucca, Italy. The story of J. Marchini Farms is about family, close friends, and success. Without these, J. Marchini Farms may have never been, and radicchio would never have made it to America's salad bowl.
J. Marchini Farms' story is about radicchio, but it all started with tomatoes. The juicy red fruit is what Florindo grew, marketed, and sold in many cities across the United States. Florindo's success with Live Oak brand tomatoes planted the seeds of success for future generations of families in the Le Grand area.
Born in 1893, Florindo Marchini lived in Lucca, Italy as a child and at 20 enlisted in the service. He served his country as a member of the Calvary and was a veteran of World War I. In 1920, he decided to leave the place he called home and emigrate to America. He wanted to leave Italy for two reasons: First, he was curious to see what was going on there, and second, his brother was working in the Livingston area at the time.
By today's standards, his trip wasn't an easy one. He traveled by boat to Ellis Island in New York, and from there traveled by train to San Francisco, where he was picked up by his brother in a Model T Ford and driven to Livingston.
In Livingston, Florindo worked on a grape farm. Then in 1925, he met Carlo Giampaoli and they started Giampaoli-Marchini Company, specializing in farming tomatoes. Due to logistic advancements in the 1920's fruits and vegetables grow in the Central Valley could be shipped to the East Coast quickly. Live Oak brand tomatoes where grown, packed and shipped in Le Grand and made their way across the U.S. Live Oak was named after the shady oak tree under which the tomatoes were packed; the same tree is still there today, just as magnificent as it was 80 years ago.
After 10 years in the U.S., Florindo went back to Italy to find his future wife, Elisa Peretti. When he found her, he knew she was something special, and she was willing to leave her family and friends to come to the United States. A business, a house, and a wife was all Florindo needed. When he returned to California, he and Elisa started a family, setting up a farming tradition that lasts to this day.
Florindo and Elisa had three boys, Leonardo, Giuseppe (Joe), and Ricardo (Richard). Joe always enjoyed being outside and watching his father farm, so it was practical for him to grow a 11-acre garden at age 13. From the experience Joe gained growing tomatoes for 7 years, Joe was invited by the existing owners of Giampaoli - Marchini to replace his father. Thus, in 1960 at 20 years of age, Joe became a partner in Giampaoli - Marchini.
The company was growing and so were the families; Joe began to realize that within 20 years there were going to be too many families involved in the business. To avoid any issues, Joe decided to sell his portion of Giampaoli - Marchini to the owners and to go into business for himself. In 1967, Joe broke away from his father's business to partner with his brother, Richard. Together they formed Marchini Brothers Inc., and Giampaoli - Marchini adopted the Live Oak brand as their company name. Marchini Brothers experienced average growth in the seventies and eighties, adding bell peppers, onions, and almonds to their product line. But it was Joe who began experimenting with a new lettuce seed from Italy; a seed that put Joe's next business, J. Marchini Farms, on the map.
Joe always liked to grow vegetable varieties that no one else had. He is a true farmer at heart. It was in his garden that our first radicchio was tested, which made Joe the United States' first, original radicchio farmer. In the eighties, radicchio wasn't known by many produce brokers, but one company in San Francisco was familiar with it, and surprised to see it in the United States. The company was J. Marchini Farms' first radicchio customer. It wasn't until value-added salad companies such as Fresh Express and Dole entered the arena that the radicchio market really jumped. Before Joe knew it, radicchio was in salads across America.
In 1983, Jeff Marchini, Joe's son, began working for Marchini Brothers Inc. He loved the idea of growing radicchio and saw vast market potential. In 1985, he grew his own field and drove loads up to San Francisco himself to increase the market's awareness of the delicious vegetable. In 1989, Jeff requested to be made a partner at Marchini Brothers; unfortunately it wasn't possible, so the company was split. Richard started Marchini Inc., concentrating only on almonds, while, with their half, Joe and Jeff started J. Marchini Farms.
The formation of J Marchini Farms allowed Jeff to concentrate on perfecting the radicchio operation. He tried different varieties, hybrids, and growing techniques, most of them showing minimal success, but by 1995 Joe and Jeff finally started making progress. They had found a steady seed supplier and the correct times to plant and harvest, but their packing and shipping logistics were lacking. The winter weather in Le Grand is cold and dry, perfect for radicchio, but rainy at times. So JMF built a packing and shipping facility to allow packing to continue any day of the week, no matter what the weather has in store. Completed in 1998, the packing facility was designed solely for the cleaning and packing of radicchio.
J Marchini Farms' goal was to be a year-round supplier of radicchio, but they knew the crop couldn't withstand Le Grand's hot summers. JMF was forced to move their operations to different areas in order to secure the product. The central coast is a perfect place to grow all lettuces, and so during the summer months Watsonville became a premier growing region for J. Marchini Farms' radicchio. Jeff's next move was to cover the two-month gap in the winter, when the weather is too inconsistent to grow in Le Grand. After a lot of research, Jeff chose Santiago, Chile as J. Marchini Farms' third growing region. Santiago has beautiful, cool, dry weather during the months of February though May, perfect for growing and harvesting radicchio. But because of the volatility of radicchio during its growth stage, Jeff was concerned that the quality wouldn't be consistent if the radicchio was outsourced. Jeff decided that if he wanted to be in control of the quality, he would need to find a grower in the area and supply them with seed, techniques, and a harvest manager. The Chilean program became an immediate success and was a vital part of the growth of J. Marchini Farms.
In 2006 J. Marchini Farms ceased operations in Chile due to cost and distance from Califronia. J. Marchini Farms now
has a steady supply of Radiccio from California year around. In 2008 the Jeff's two "boys" joined the ranks at J. Marchini Farms. Marc works in the sales and post-harvest side of the business and Nic works in the farming operation side of the business.
As J. Marchini Farms growes in its fourth generation of management, it is important to remember that J. Marchini Farms is built on strong values and heritage. Quality, satisfaction, and hard work are timeless attributes which Giampaoli - Marchini possessed 80 years ago, and which have been perpetuated to this day. We are J. Marchini Farms, from our family to yours.
