Santa Barbara Farms finds niche in Lompoc
Santa Barbara Farms finds niche in Lompoc
Since its beginning a little more than 15 years ago, Santa Barbara Farms has stayed true to its mission of providing several commodity products to the produce industry on a year-round basis.
Headquartered in Lompoc, CA, which is near the coast about halfway between the city of Santa Barbara and the produce region of Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Farms specializes in Iceberg lettuce and celery, and also grows and ships several other items including cauliflower.
For its Iceberg lettuce , the firm produces from the Lompoc area from around April 1 to Dec. 1. It then moves to the Yuma district in Arizona for a two-week early-December window. Then production shifts to the Imperial Valley of California, centered near the town of Holtville. “We are in Holtville from about Dec. 16 until the end of March,” said Ron Berghoefer, vice president of sales and marketing.
Berghoefer said the crop season in Lompoc pretty closely mirrors that in the Santa Maria area, which means some hearty crops — such as cauliflower — can be grown year-round, but others — such as Iceberg lettuce — have a distinct season dictated by the warmer weather. Santa Barbara Farms also grows broccoli in Lompoc all year, but that is strictly for the processors as it produces no fresh-market broccoli.
Santa Barbara Farms sells most of its output to suppermarkets and wholesalers in the Midwest and East.