private industry consumer goods founded 1942 headquarters hood river oregon us key people scott webster ceo products fresh fruit fruit baskets gift boxes fruit club subscriptions number of employees 43 1 website thefruitcompany.com the fruit company is an american company that was founded in 1942 by roy webster . the company still privately owned and led by ceo scott webster has become known for their classic baskets and gift towers featuring northwest grown pears and apples . 2 the company also provides support to college students through the roy webster scholarship and the fruit company gift basket entrepreneur award . 3 contents 1 history 2 awards and accolades 3 competitors 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit roy webster who had once toured the hood river valley on honeymoon came to the area in 1942 and acquired 600 acres 240 ha of land . the company then named webster orchards originally specialized in comice pears and in the following years began running a mail order service to distribute their signature pears across the pacific northwest . 4 the company eventually passed to roy webster s son wayne webster who then passed the company to sons scott and addison webster in 1999 . under the management of the webster brothers webster orchards became the fruit company and began selling fruit under the the world s finest fruit trademark . in 1986 the webster brothers purchased the diamond fruit packing warehouse to establish the fruit company s permanent headquarters . scott webster is currently the company s ceo and president of roy webster orchard s incorporated . the company saw a period of financial hardship during the great recession and was forced to lay off 30 % of its employees and make other cutbacks . however after overhauling their cost structure and earning the support of costco as one of their primary fruit basket suppliers the company resumed its growth . 5 the fruit company is also a part of hood river county s famous fruit loop a driving tour that stops at family farms and fruit stands . 6 awards and accolades edit the company has been recognized by various organizations and publications throughout the years . the company was selected by o the oprah magazine to be part of their holiday o list in 2003 . 7 in 2005 the fruit company was named one of the top 50 best of the web for online retailing websites by internet retailer magazine . 8 and in 2013 los angeles news outlet ktla praised the fruit company for their mother s day gift baskets on the air . 9 the company has also been named one of oregon s top 15 companies . 10 competitors edit harry & david edible arrangements proflowers 1 800 flowers ftd see also edit list of companies based in oregon pine grove hood river county oregon references edit the fruit company s company profile on linkedin . linkedin . a foodie s guide to cyber monday 2011 . the wall street journal . scholarships . rocky mountain college . the fruit company . 1859 oregon magazine . watson stu . holiday link to costco.com helps the fruit company s recession recovery . hood river biz buzz . hood river country fruit loop . hood river county . o the oprah magazine selects oregon based the fruit company for the 2003 holiday o list . pr newswire . top 50 best of the web . internet retailer magazine . internet retailer 2005 . mother s day gift ideas for every mom . ktla . review of the fruit company . gift basket reviews . external links edit the fruit company v t e oregon based companies nyse listed greenbrier companies lithia motors nike nw natural portland general electric nasdaq listed columbia sportswear electro scientific industries erickson inc. fei flir lattice mentor graphics radisys rentrak schnitzer steel umpqua holdings private companies a dec banfield consumer cellular esco franz bakery hoffman construction infocus kindercare education laika leupold & stevens les schwab the old spaghetti factory parr lumber plaid pantry reser s fine foods roseburg forest products shari s vigor industrial other bi mart tillamook creamery western family foods list of companies based in oregon retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the fruit company & oldid 742155605 categories hood river oregonretail companies of the united statesprivately held companies based in oregonmail order retailersamerican companies established in 19421942 establishments in oregonfood and drink companies established in 1942hidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a 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