About Us

Sutherland Produce Sales, Inc. (Sutherland Produce) is a privately-held sales agent and distributor of top-quality organic produce. It offers a wide variety of certified organic fruit and vegetables including citrus, table grapes, melons, hard fruit, stone fruit, and vegetables that include potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers among others. The company was founded in 1987 by Bill Sutherland who is widely considered a true pioneer in organics and one of the most influential players in helping to define, shape and establish universal standards and laws that govern organic farming and the industry today. The company’s roots date back to the late 70s and the early days of organic farming. Before founding Sutherland Produce, Mr. Sutherland pioneered new methods and set new standards in the way organic produce would be packed and presented. Bill opened the first organic citrus and avocado packing house in the country in 1978. Later in 1980, Sutherland started another packing operation, Fresh Start Farms, which again introduced new packing techniques, equipment and materials. A few years later, Bill and another industry pioneer, Charlie Heermans, combined all of their talents, growers and equipment to introduce West Coast Organics which specialized in packing, distribution and sales of organic citrus, avocados and specialty fruit like cherimoya, kumquats, guava and sapote. By the mid-80s there was a clearly defined third-party certifier process and a public that was now more trusting of products labeled “organic,” Bill Sutherland founded Sutherland Produce Sales, Inc in 1987 in San Diego, California. Today, the company serves customers ranging from small regional wholesalers and distributors to leading retailers like Whole Foods Market. Sutherland is the proud recipient of the prestigious “XXXX” Blue Book rating and is a Blue Book trading member since 2004. Sutherland Produce is headquartered in El Cajon, California and has operations in Monterey County, San Joaquin Valley and Coachella Valley, California. It currently represents growers from Washington, Oregon, California and Mexico.