Nogales, Arizona-based Wholesum Harvest has announced the launch of Wholesum Berries LLC, a joint venture owned by the company itself along with organic berry farmers in North and South America. 

Headquartered in Salinas, California, the new company will distribute organic berries as part of a year-round program, starting with blueberries and strawberries this year out of Southern California with a goal to add blackberries and raspberries to the portfolio in the near future.

"Wholesum Berries is a significant opportunity for our growers and will be focused on developing current and anticipated product sales,” Wholesum Harvest COO Ricardo Cristantes said in a release. 

Katy Classon joins Wholesum Berries as the company’s sales manager. Previously, Classon worked at Naturipe Farms where she was promoted in 2014 to sales representative.

"I'm so excited about 100% organic berry production! This is where my passion lies and I look forward to using my sustainability experience with Naturipe to help continue to move the needle of the industry toward responsible and fair supply chains," Classon said.

The company highlighted that Wholesum Harvest and its organic berry growers shared the same vision for a future of responsible and sustainable food sourcing, with the group created with the aim of bringing high quality organic berries and building a Fair Trade program the industry could use as a model.

"Wholesum Berries has the potential to change the berry game by bringing more sustainability, social responsibility and organic progress and advocacy to market in a way that allows more families everywhere to have access to berries done the Wholesum Way,” said Wholesum Berries vice president of marketing, Jessie Gunn.

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