We moved to Apple
Hill® (Camino, CA ) from Foster City, CA in 1976 and
fell in love with our ranch as soon as we saw it. A
multitude of apple and pear trees, a log house, a large
cold storage building and a complete fruit packing line
were all part of the purchase. We certainly didn’t
realize how much work was involved in owning an orchard
and packing mill.
Our family of five –
Gael, Joan and children (Karen, Cathy and Mike) - moved
in accompanied by the dog, cat, goldfish and shortly
after, grandparents.
Farmers
always say there’s no money in farming and they’re often
right! In 1976 the pear trees were still not producing
the bountiful fruit that was harvested in the 50’s.
And, in the last 30+ years we have never had the perfect
year that everyone hopes for, when the crop is large,
the fruit perfect and of course the selling price high.
Still, we’ve been pleased with the production we’ve had,
and there’s always next year! It’s the quality of life
that truly is the best crop we harvest. Just ask the
kids how much fun they had growing up here!
We have always
grown, packed and sold quality apples and juice. We
started with one tractor and one forklift on 37 acres of
pears and apples. Everyone in the family worked hard.
And our ranch manager, Leonardo, kept everything on
track to grow beautiful, bountiful fruit each year.
After a request from Raley’s
to provide fresh cider to their stores, we slowly
changed from an ap
ple-packing
operation to a wholesale cider and juice operation. It
took some time to get it right – to truly understand
what it took to make the best tasting juice around. We
quickly learned it’s not just about pressing fresh
apples into juice – it’s about using just the right
combination of apple varieties to ensure the perfect
marriage of the sweet and tart flavors.
Now, we freshly
press top quality juice all year long at our production
facility that rivals many small producers of freshly
pressed juice. We’ve replaced the flatbed trucks loaded
with cases of juice and piles of ice, with refrigerated
semi-trucks and vans. Look for our white and yellow
trucks transporting our juice to your local supermarkets
throughout Northern California. Our juice is also flash
pasteurized to ensure your safety. And we’ve added two
acres of solar panels (installed by Premier Power) to
help run the mill. Click here to take a tour of the
cider mill.
Today,
our son, Michael runs the cider mill, while daughter
Cathy, handles sales and marketing. Leonardo Vega, is
still our ranch manager. Justo manages production.
Tricia and Maureen run the main office. And our
production crew works round the clock, rain or shine!
It's truly our team behind the scenes at the mill, and
on the road that keep the presses pressing, the bottles
filling and the trucks rolling down the road to ensure
that our freshly pressed juices make it safely from our
mill to a store near you. This passionate group takes pride in everything they do. It's the hard work
of all our kids and employees that ensures we can continue to offer up
the best tasting juice around.
Is this a good
life? You bet it is ... and we wouldn’t change it for the
world!
We hope you enjoy
our juices and we guarantee that the quality is the
best! Barsotti Juice Company is one of the last great
family-run businesses from one of the last great places
to live.
Your friends,
Gael & Joan Barsotti
(By the way, Joan writes children's
picture books and does author visits to schools, bookstores,
and libraries all over Northern California. Check out
her books at
www.barsottibooks.com.)
Mike,
our
master blender and production guru, has
been at the helm since 2000. His task in life is to ensure that we are one
well-oiled machine and, more importantly - that the juice
we're producing and bottling is the finest you'll ever
taste! He's picky about the quality of fruits and
vegetables used, and has been known to turn away truck-loads
of fruit because it wasn't up to his standards. He takes
pride in his masterful blending of our all natural juice,
purees and concentrates - and you can taste the difference
in every bottle! 
Having
taken a different path after graduating from college, Cathy finally heeded the call of returning to the family business
in late 2007. Diving into all this juice business
head-first, she soon developed a penchant for peddling the
family's finest juice blends to our supermarket partners.
It's an easy job when you're a big believer in the product
you're tasked to sell - and this juice is hands-down the
most naturally delicious and naturally perfect you'll ever
try.
Justo
started working at our ranch when he was only 15. That
was a number of years ago. How long? Justo won't
let us say ... but his dedication to the family has not gone
unnoticed. He knows everything there is to know about
ensuring that our juices are bottled and shipped using the
latest safety and quality standards.
