Organic artichokes added to Lakeside Organic Gardens portfolio
Lakeside Organic Gardens, which has been growing and shipping organic vegetables for more than 25 years, has added organic artichokes to its product mix.
“We are super happy to be growing artichokes in the Lakeside label along the Central California coast,” said Sales Manager Brian Peixoto. “Our volume and quality are fantastic as artichokes thrive in this California coastal climate.”
The Peixoto family began farming in the Pajaro Valley, near Watsonville, CA, more than a century ago. Joseph Peixoto immigrated to California from the Azore Islands of Portugal in the late 1800s, with his descendants concentrating on conventional crops for the first 100 years of U.S. farming. Dick Peixoto, one of his grandsons, fell in love with agriculture at an early age in the 1970s and started growing his own crops while in high school. In the 1990s, he began converting land to certified organic and launched the Lakeside Organic Gardens label in 1996. By 2000, the total acreage farmed by Lakeside Organic Gardens was 100 percent organic. Today, the company claims to be the “largest family-owned and operated solely organic vegetable grower-shipper in the USA” with more than 45 commodities in several locations.
“Our product quality and supply have been fantastic over the past few years even as we struggled with labor, supply, weather conditions and increased fuel costs,” said Brian Peixoto.
The Lakeside Organic Gardens team is looking forward to the Organic Produce Summit as it offers an opportunity to expose its value proposition to both existing and potential customers. “The Organic Produce Summit is one of our favorite shows, as it’s in our backyard,” said Peixoto. “OPS is a great way to connect and strengthen customer relations. Because our 50-plus ranches are so close, Santa Cruz and Monterey County, we love having new and regular customers out for in-depth tours.”
He added that at the trade show the company will be highlighting its sustainable and environmentally friendly carton. “One hundred percent of our polypropylene cartons are recyclable, and we no longer use wax cartons. It will be great to share with our customers some of the positive feedback we are receiving in the sustainable recycling process. Lakeside will be showcasing its leaf program — romaine, green leaf, red leaf — as well as its baby broccoli and Romanesco.
Peixoto said it will also be touting its attention to service. “What sets us apart from our competition is our ability to react to our customers’ needs, not just daily but hourly,” he said. “Our direct connection to the field sets us apart as well as having our customers out to meet our grower and visit our ranches for hands-on information.”
Lakeside’s reach goes across the United States and into Western Canada with its core customers being retail stores, processors and box programs.
Tim Linden
About Tim Linden | 
Tim Linden grew up in a produce family as both his father and grandfather spent their business careers on the wholesale terminal markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tim graduated from San Diego State University in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Shortly thereafter he began his career at The Packer where he stayed for eight years, leaving in 1983 to join Western Growers as editor of its monthly magazine. In 1986, Tim launched Champ Publishing as an agricultural publishing specialty company.
Today he is a contract publisher for several trade associations and writes extensively on all aspects of the produce business. He began writing for The Produce News in 1997, and currently wears the title of Editor at Large.
