Campos Borquez, Deardorff unite for organic vegetables

Campos Borquez and Deardorff Family Farms have come together to provide the marketplace a consistent supply of organic vegetables directly from farmers committed to social and environmental sustainability. The program will focus on organic celery and then add organic broccoli and organic cauliflower later in the season.

The Borquez family farms its winter vegetable program in an area with outstanding climate, water and labor availability. The families will leverage this production ability between Campos Borquez and Deardorff to bring a high-quality, consistent organic vegetable supply to the market.

“This is a farm-based approach to meeting market demand,” said Tom Deardorff II. “So often, we simply plant what the customer wants and try our best to make a good crop; however, you must be in the right geographical region, in the right soil and at the right time of year to produce the best, most consistent and highest quality produce.”

A mutual commitment to social and environmental sustainability is another important part of this program. The Borquez family is committed to the Dignity Project to offer healthcare, education and nutrition to their local community; and the Deardorff family built one the first and largest LEED Gold certified produce facilities in California saving millions of gallons of water and using solar energy for power.

The program will also offer flexibility. Product may be loaded in Oxnard or Yuma during various times of the year. And because the program is farm-based, the families have decided to keep offering their independent labels. The Campos Borquez label will be available seasonally from December to April and is supported by Fair Trade certification, and the Deardorff Organics label will be offered year-round.

The program will be led by Luke Patruno at Deardorff Family Farms and Rodrigo Torres at Campos Borquez.

Both the Borquez and Deardorff families have been farming for generations. The Deardorff family has been farming ever since they started in the 1930s in Los Angeles. The Borquez family has spent the last four generations developing their own organic farming operations in various parts of Mexico. The companies said they share a mutual commitment to sustainability, transparency and loyalty.