founded new york city headquarters plant city florida united states key people gary wishnatzki ceo 1 products produce slogan quality produce since 1922 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 . 2 contents 1 history 2 products 3 community involvement 4 references 5 external links history edit 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 . 3 wishnatzki nathel farm ca. 1930 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 . 4 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 5 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 . 6 7 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 8 9 which are produced with both organic and traditional i.e. using fertilizers and pesticides approaches . in 2010 the consumer brand wish farms 10 was launched featuring misty the garden pixie . by 2011 wish farms became a year round supplier of blueberries with seven different growing regions strawberries with an operation in california and vegetables with farms in florida . the company made the official name change to wish farms in the same year . products edit wish farms is the largest strawberry grower and shipper in florida and year round with farms in california offering both organic and conventional berries . they ship over four million flats of strawberries a year . gary wishnatzki wish farms also markets organic and conventional blueberries year round from seven different growing regions and ship six million pounds of blueberries annually . in addition the wish farms vegetable program includes marketing pickles for the largest pickle grower in the world as well as growing bell pepper and grape tomatoes at company owned farms in duette and pine island florida . over one million packages of vegetables are shipped annually . during the 2009 10 growing season wish farms produced 30 million pounds 13.6 million kg of fresh and processed strawberries under its wish farms brand . wish farms created a processing line that allows the company to create frozen strawberry product and market it to an outside customer base . 11 wish farms produces strawberries blueberries bell peppers squash and hard squash such as butternut squash eggplants cucumbers tomatoes cantaloupes and watermelons . 12 the company distributes to chain stores wholesalers restaurant suppliers and institutional buyers throughout the united states and canada . community involvement edit gary wishnatzki and wish farms have been active in the plant city and tampa florida area community . gary supports the needs of the state s migrant workers . in 2006 he started the strawberry pro am tennis tournament with benefits funding college educations for children of migrant workers . the 5th annual tournament was held march 13 2010 and raised close to 90 000 for the redlands christian migrant association rcma capital campaign which is aimed at building classrooms to help serve children of migrant workers . rcma serves nearly 8 000 children of migrant farm workers and rural low income families in more than 75 centers throughout florida . 13 the 8th annual strawberry pro am tennis tournament was held february 9 2013 and was expected to net close to 85 000 for rcma . wish farms is a sponsor of the florida strawberry festival held each year in plant city florida . 14 created by the plant city lions club in the 1930s the 11 day event draws crowds from around the country . in 2012 the company sponsored a farm worker appreciation day at the event . 15 references edit contact us wish farms ffva florida fruit & vegetable association member profile wishnatzki farms growing produce wishnatzki farms plant city courier december 3 1937 vol . 20 growing produce wishnatzki farms accessed 28 july 2010 jennifer strailey 1 march 2012 . brand ambition . progressive grocer . retrieved 22 march 2013 . robert trigaux 4 february 2009 . farmer keeps tract of every last strawberry for quality control . st. petersburg times . retrieved 22 march 2013 . wish farms wish farms check url value help . wishnatzki farms launching a new brand with pixies and social media . florida fruit & vegetable association . retrieved 28 july 2010 . about us . squeezing the juice out of extra berries accessed 28 july 2010 product matrix wishnatzki farms accessed 28 july 2010 the packer gary wishnatzki florida strawberry festival accessed 30 july 2010 special days at the florida strawberry festival accessed 19 march 2013 external links edit wish farms retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wish farms & oldid 742168526 categories agriculture companies of the united statescompanies based in floridafarms in floridafood manufacturers of the united statesstrawberries1922 establishments in 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