Sunkist - Mesa, Arizona - Iconic Factories on Waymarking.com

Sunkist processed locally grown citrus from the Phoenix metro area for decades. This plant, the last one in Maricopa County, opened in the 1930s. The 70,000-square-foot warehouse sits on a little more than 7 acres next to Mesa’s railroad tracks.

Maricopa County lost many of its citrus groves as the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, and a dozen or so other suburban cities have grown. Sunkist, which had many processing plants in the Valley here, closed its doors for good last year on its one remaining plant here. According to its website, they still have 3 plants in Yuma, Arizona. The facility was a cooperative owned by Valley growers who sold citrus under the Sunkist brand. The decision to close came as the number of citrus orchards dwindled and crop prices hadn't kept up with production costs.

From Wikipedia:

Sunkist Growers, Incorporated is a citrus grower's non-stock membership cooperative composed of 6,000 members from California and Arizona. It is headquartered in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Formed in 1893 as the Southern California Fruit Exchange in Claremont by P. J. Dreher and his son, the "father" of the California citrus industry, Edward L. Dreher (1877–1964). By 1905, the group represented 5,000 members, 45% of the California citrus industry, and renamed itself the California Fruit Growers Exchange. It adopted the "Sunkist" name in 1908 for its highest quality oranges, and so was the first to brand fruit.

Sunkist is a not-for-profit corporation, with all profits from the exchange returned to the growers. Sunkist is the largest marketing cooperative in the world's fruit and vegetable industry, and is one of the 10 largest marketing cooperatives in America. The Sunkist brand is on more than 600 products in over forty-five countries on five continents, usually fruit-flavored products or vitamins.

Product manufactured here: Sunkist Address: 254 W. Broadway Road Mesa, AZ USA Web Page: [Web Link]

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