Adobe Creek Packing Co.

In an attempt to have better control over the growing, packing and shipping of his pears Ken Barr made the decision in 1989 to buy his own packing shed.

Ken decided to leave the comfortable umbrella of a grower cooperative and take on the responsibility of packing and shipping his pears. A small shed owned by the Kelseyville Packing Company was purchased and Adobe Creek Orchards was born. It was not Kens' intent to run a commercial packing business but instead to have control of the way his fruit was packed and shipped. Ken felt that by planting the orchards, raising the trees, taking care of the fruit, picking the fruit and then having control of the packing and shipping put him in a very special and unique position. He was and still is one of the very few who can lay claim to this accomplishment.

In 1990, with diversification on his mind, Ken joined forces with his brother, John Barr and business partner Broc Zoller and formed Adobe Creek Packing Co., Inc. These three men each came to the business with their own special talents. Ken controlled the orchards and is one the of the best pear growers in the county, John who had been the general manager for Kelseyville Packing for 20 years had the mechanical knowledge of running packing sheds, and Broc, known as the Pear Doctor, trained as a plant pathologist, runs his own business as a pest control advisor, knew the science of pears. With their combined knowledge they knew they could do things right.

Over the next 5 years the company took on more commercial growers. They made it their goal to pack the best fruit possible and to gain respect for their label "NORABELLA". As it turned out 1995 was a major turning point for Adobe Creek Packing. When the Kelseyville Packing facility was put up for sale the ACP team made a bid to purchase it. It was a chance to substantially boost their visibility in the pear industry. The KP facility was larger with much more pre-cooling and storage capacity. The KP facility offered a 430,000- box cold storage facility and a pre-cooling operation capable of handling 35,000 cartons a day. With the purchase came the right to use the "BLAZING STAR" label, one of the oldest and best known labels in the pear industry. In February 1995 the move was made, it was like coming home. John had worked at the KP facility as the general manager for 20 years before becoming partners in Adobe Creek. He had designed and built most of the packing lines, sortation equipment and cold storage buildings that were at the site. Ken and Broc had been members of the co-op until 1990 when they joined as partners in ACP. Of course things were different now - they owned it.

After the first year it was evident that if ACP was going to keep up with the changing times in the pear industry new equipment was going to have to be purchased. It was decided to install two new computerized sizing lines. With the new equipment ACP would have the versatility to pack the new containers that buyers were requesting. The times of tight fill and hand wrap boxes were fading. New reusable plastic containers, two and three layer euro boxes, #3 plastic bags and cardboard bulk bins were fast becoming the container of choice.

In January of 1997, John Barr passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Taking with him the knowledge and insight of many years in the pear industry. It was time to re-group and as often happens in hard times the team pulled together and moved on. More new equipment was installed to keep up with the ever growing buyer demands. More hard times lay ahead with the bankruptcy of Tri-Valley Growers. Economic times were hitting the pear industry. Pear orchards were and still are being pulled out. The tonnage at ACP declined as did all packing facilities in the area. But ACP had a couple good things going for it. First, Ken and Broc still had all their orchards and they were growing the best pears in the county. Second, they still had the packing shed with the ability to pack the best in the best. They are in this for the long run; they will grow and expand as the industry changes.

We are very proud to be able to make the claim that all our pears are cooled to 32 degrees Fahrenheit within 12 hours of picking and the majority is pre-cooled within 6-8 hours of picking. University of California studies have shown that fruit quality and shelf life of Bartlett pears are maximized when the time from picking to pre-cooling is minimized.

The team at Adobe Creek Packing strives to pack the best pears in containers that are buyer friendly. Our emphasis is on fruit quality.