Graton, Calif., apple processor Manzana Products will move its processing operations to the Yakima Valley in Washington state by December of 2025, according to numerous local reports.
Manzana has processed applesauce, vinegar, cider and juice under the North Coast Organics line in its Sonoma County plant for more than a century, but it is time for the company to follow apple production north, company CEO Andy Kay explained. Multiple news outlets said the facility was “Sonoma County’s last apple processing plant,” and bemoaned the loss of one of the region’s heritage agricultural products.
Kay noted that in the 1940s and 1950s, Sonoma County had 15,000-plus acres of apple-growing orchards, but today that number was down to less than 1,000 acres. To that point, he told the news outlet, California accounts for only 2% of apple production in the U.S. today, while Washington state produces nearly 70%, and shipping apples to California from outside sources had become cost-prohibitive for the company.
Kay said that 80% or more of the company’s apples were sourced from Washington producers, and 25% of what Manzana was paying for apples could be chalked up directly to transportation of the fruit, according to one news report.
Manzana plans to keep operations at the plant going for the next 12 months before the transition to a facility in Sunnyside, Wash., begins. Kay said in the news article that the company believes employees will have enough time under those circumstances to relocate if they so choose.
Additionally, Manzana has agreed to buy Sonoma County apples until 2029, giving local producers several years to begin to arrange for new destinations for their crops, according to reports.
