Mike Mizokami, pioneer in year-round growing and founder of 'SunFed' label, has died
Mike Mizokami, pioneer in year-round growing and founder of 'SunFed' label, has died
Mike Mizokami, founder of the "SunFed" label and a pioneer in year-round production for the U.S. market who operated farms in both the United States and Mexico, died June 12 in Chandler, AZ. He was 89.
Mr. Mizokami was born Nov. 2, 1918, in La Junta, CO, and attended college at Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater, OK. In the early 1930s, following his father's death, he came home from college to take over the family farming operation in Blanca, CO. The farm became well known for summer spinach, most of which was shipped to customers in the Midwest and on the East Coast, said his son, Warren Mizokami.
"I was a kid" working in the business when the SunFed label was started in 1951, Warren Mizokami said. "We were shipping from 10 to as many as 20 carloads of spinach a day."
But Mike Mizokami found it a challenge to sustain the farming operation during the short growing season. The farm was located in south-central Colorado at an elevation of 8,000 feet, and according to Danny Mandel, chief executive officer of SunFed in Nogales, AZ, it was "a very difficult area to grow in. You have only one short season to make a crop ... and you can only make that crop if it doesn't freeze on Labor Day or snow on Memorial Day - and you can still have hail on the Fourth of July."
Warren Mizokami, a founding partner of SunFed with Mr. Mandel, recalled that his father "didn't like the idea of one season a year and hit-or-miss on that one season, so he started looking for something to do in the winter time." After trying some winter production in Texas, he decided in the mid- 1950s "to go into Mexico."
Mr. Mizokami was "one of the first Americans down there" in Mexico growing winter crops for the U.S. market, said Mr. Mandel. In partnership with Mexican growers, he started with cantaloupes and onions, and then expanded into zucchini squash, bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.
"He packed everything in the 'SunFed' label," which he had established in the Colorado operation in 1951, "and took great pride in making sure that the quality was top notch," Warren Mizokami said.
The Mexican operation was a partnership between Mr. Mizokami, his brothers, Tom and Sam Mizokami, and their mother, Haatsusyo Mizokami, he said.
Mr. Mizokami really changed the Mexican deal," said Mr. Mandel. "He was just a great example to show people how you could pack a product with uniformity throughout the box, every box, every load, all season long, and he set the standard for everyone else that came in his path."
Mr. Mizokami was "considered to be a remarkable grower," Mr. Mandel continued. "He could do things other people simply weren't doing." For example, "in an era when we didn't have the hybrids that exist today, he was able to grow green bell peppers" in sizes up to extra-extra-extra large, while the largest size "the typical bell pepper grower" was growing was a 70-count extra large. "He could also grow his green bells well into May, when most of Mexico stopped in mid to late March."
He continued farming in Mexico until the late 1980s, all the while keeping the Colorado operation going during the summer as well. The "SunFed" label developed "quite a reputation" among buyers in Nogales, Mike Mizokami said.
Initially, Mr. Mizokami sold his Mexican products through various established shippers, such as Kitty's Produce, Mike Mizokami said. "Then he started his own shipping deal" in Nogales called Mizokami Bros. He "hired various salesmen," and then in 1970, "I took over the sales" and was later joined by his brother Brian Mizokami.
When Mr. Mizokami retired in the late 1980s, Mizokami Bros. was disbanded. In 1992, Mike Mizokami and Mr. Mandel formed Mandel-Mizokami Produce and continued the use of the "SunFed" label. The company later changed its name to SunFed.
"About six years ago ... I ended up selling out to Danny," said Mike Mizokami, who is now semi-retired and working seasonally for Bay Area Produce in Nogales.
Mr. Mizokami was born Nov. 2, 1918, in La Junta, CO, and attended college at Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater, OK. In the early 1930s, following his father's death, he came home from college to take over the family farming operation in Blanca, CO. The farm became well known for summer spinach, most of which was shipped to customers in the Midwest and on the East Coast, said his son, Warren Mizokami.
"I was a kid" working in the business when the SunFed label was started in 1951, Warren Mizokami said. "We were shipping from 10 to as many as 20 carloads of spinach a day."
But Mike Mizokami found it a challenge to sustain the farming operation during the short growing season. The farm was located in south-central Colorado at an elevation of 8,000 feet, and according to Danny Mandel, chief executive officer of SunFed in Nogales, AZ, it was "a very difficult area to grow in. You have only one short season to make a crop ... and you can only make that crop if it doesn't freeze on Labor Day or snow on Memorial Day - and you can still have hail on the Fourth of July."
Warren Mizokami, a founding partner of SunFed with Mr. Mandel, recalled that his father "didn't like the idea of one season a year and hit-or-miss on that one season, so he started looking for something to do in the winter time." After trying some winter production in Texas, he decided in the mid- 1950s "to go into Mexico."
Mr. Mizokami was "one of the first Americans down there" in Mexico growing winter crops for the U.S. market, said Mr. Mandel. In partnership with Mexican growers, he started with cantaloupes and onions, and then expanded into zucchini squash, bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.
"He packed everything in the 'SunFed' label," which he had established in the Colorado operation in 1951, "and took great pride in making sure that the quality was top notch," Warren Mizokami said.
The Mexican operation was a partnership between Mr. Mizokami, his brothers, Tom and Sam Mizokami, and their mother, Haatsusyo Mizokami, he said.
Mr. Mizokami really changed the Mexican deal," said Mr. Mandel. "He was just a great example to show people how you could pack a product with uniformity throughout the box, every box, every load, all season long, and he set the standard for everyone else that came in his path."
Mr. Mizokami was "considered to be a remarkable grower," Mr. Mandel continued. "He could do things other people simply weren't doing." For example, "in an era when we didn't have the hybrids that exist today, he was able to grow green bell peppers" in sizes up to extra-extra-extra large, while the largest size "the typical bell pepper grower" was growing was a 70-count extra large. "He could also grow his green bells well into May, when most of Mexico stopped in mid to late March."
He continued farming in Mexico until the late 1980s, all the while keeping the Colorado operation going during the summer as well. The "SunFed" label developed "quite a reputation" among buyers in Nogales, Mike Mizokami said.
Initially, Mr. Mizokami sold his Mexican products through various established shippers, such as Kitty's Produce, Mike Mizokami said. "Then he started his own shipping deal" in Nogales called Mizokami Bros. He "hired various salesmen," and then in 1970, "I took over the sales" and was later joined by his brother Brian Mizokami.
When Mr. Mizokami retired in the late 1980s, Mizokami Bros. was disbanded. In 1992, Mike Mizokami and Mr. Mandel formed Mandel-Mizokami Produce and continued the use of the "SunFed" label. The company later changed its name to SunFed.
"About six years ago ... I ended up selling out to Danny," said Mike Mizokami, who is now semi-retired and working seasonally for Bay Area Produce in Nogales.
