Fresno County farmer giving away his fruit amid legal dispute with produce company
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Cesar Mora is not harvesting his 7.5-acre Monalise nectarine orchard amid a legal dispute.
- Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co. sued Mora over a 2017 Monalise grower agreement.
- Mora alleges over half his fruit was culled and culled fruit was sold without payment.
This time of year the San Joaquin Valley’s tree fruit industry is buzzing with activity as hundreds of workers are busy harvesting the region’s prized, peaches, plums and nectarines.
But it’s relatively quiet in Cesar Mora’s 7.5-acre orchard of white flesh nectarines. And it will likely stay that way as the Reedley farmer struggles through a second year of not picking his fruit due to a legal dispute with one of the largest produce companies in the nation, Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co.
Mora has taken his case to social media and announced Monday that he will be giving away his nectarines because of the legal battle. Check TikTok, and Instagram for details or visit his webpage, nonectarineswasted.com.
“I have no other option right now,” he said. “I hate to see good fruit go to waste so I want the community to have it.”
Mora said he has asked other fruit companies to pack his fruit, but they have turned him down, in large part, because they don’t want to get involved in the dispute with Giumarra, a major player in the produce industry.
Headquartered in the Los Angeles area, Giumarra is one of the largest table grape growers in the U.S. The company also produces, tree fruit, avocados, citrus, vegetables, melons and berries.
At issue, is a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the company against Mora, a third-generation farmer.
The company alleges Mora broke their contract when he refused to send his fruit to them and instead sent it to another company. Mora signed the agreement in 2017 to grow a special, white-flesh nectarine called the Monalise.
On Monday the company issued a statement: “Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. remains committed to serving our growers with integrity, honoring our contractual obligations, and safeguarding the proprietary programs that provide value to our grower partners. Litigation involving Mr. Mora remains ongoing and we will provide additional comment as appropriate.”
Mora said Monday he was “recruited” to take part in the special program that promised premium sales for growing an exclusive piece of fruit. As an incentive he alleges he was promised $1,000 an acre for agreeing to sign a contract.
In exchange, Mora was required pay a royalty fee and other costs associated with being a Monalise grower.
But he said the promise of producing premium sales was never fulfilled.
Mora said he also discovered that his nectarines were being heavily culled at the packing house, resulting in less money in his pocket. He estimated about half of what he sent to the packing house was being culled.
An average cull rate in the tree fruit industry is about 15%, said one of Mora’s lawyers, Zena Sin-Zaragoza, of Chapman Zaragoza, LLP in Clovis.
Mora has filed a cross-complaint against Giumarra alleging several charges including, unfair business practices, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty.
In his complaint, Mora said he was shocked at how much of his fruit was being culled.
“More than half of the fruit I sent them was being thrown out,” he said. “And when I went to the packing house to go see what was going on, I saw someone collecting the coals and selling them out to somebody else. They were selling them out the back door.”
Mora alleges in his complaint that he never received any money from those sales or a report telling him if the fruit was disposed of or sold.
Mora is also alleging he was deceived by representatives of the company about the exclusivity of the fruit.
“What I was led to believe is that this variety was a patented protected variety that someone owned. The contract I signed itself said that it is a proprietary variety that rights exist to it, and that Giumarra purchased the rights, and that I had to sign a contract to be able to plant the variety,” Mora said.
In his complaint, Mora also discovered that the nectarines are “not patented with any United States or European authority which has the power to legally patent, and therefore the nectarines are not exclusive to Giumarra.”
As his case heads to trial next month, Mora said he will continue to give away his nectarines until they are all gone.
