Our Story
Three decades of feeding communities.
The original pickup truck used to deliver fruit, pictured at the family grove in 1994.
How It Started
Sacred Earth Produce was started by Nico Brown in the summer of 1994 as a way to sell surplus fruit from his parents’ avocado and citrus grove in Southern California. With not many options for selling the fruit locally, Nico loaded up the back of his pickup with as many boxes of avocados and citrus as he could carry and headed north, stopping at independently owned grocery stores and markets off the interstate to offer his family’s fruit at a fair price. By the end of the trip, enough stores had said yes that he decided to make the drive again with more fruit the following week.
The second trip was a success, too, and before long, Nico was making the same drive every week, stopping at the same stores, bringing whatever he could gather from his family’s trees. Some buyers even started calling ahead to make sure he’d set a few boxes aside for them.
Eventually, there wasn’t enough fruit left on the family grove to keep up with demand. So Nico started asking his neighbors if he could pick from their trees, too. Many were glad to have the help. Like his family, they often had more fruit than they knew what to do with, and much of it was going to waste. Nico spent each week picking and filling his truck, before heading out with whatever he’d gathered.
That was the beginning. And though the routes have shifted and the loads have grown, the core of what we do is still the same.
Fruit from Sacred Earth Produce on display at Staff of Life's Watsonville location.
Growth & Today
Today, Sacred Earth Produce operates as a regional produce distributor based out of our hub in Los Angeles. We source directly from farms across California, focusing on small, family-run operations with a commitment to sustainable and regenerative growing practices. Many of the farms we work with don’t have access to traditional buyers or large distribution networks.
This is still a family business. We continue to move fruit from the original trees where it all started, on the family grove in Southern California. The harvest from those trees still gets loaded onto our trucks, just like it did in the early days. Today, Nico manages a grove of his own on Rincon Mountain in Ventura County, working alongside his sons.
Sacred Earth still works with many of the same buyers who took a chance on those first truckloads over thirty years ago. We’ve built relationships with new stores and brought on many new farms since then, but much of the original route still holds today.
The Sacred Earth Way
Our commitment goes beyond just delivering produce. It's about cultivating a food system that's good for the earth, good for the growers, and good for our communities. This is the heart of what we do.
Rooted in Sustainability
We champion regenerative and sustainable farming practices that nourish the soil, protect biodiversity, and ensure healthy food for generations to come.
Community Focused
Our business is built on strong, direct relationships – with our dedicated farmers, our valued buyers, and the communities we serve. We believe in fair partnerships and a connected food system.
Uncompromising Quality
From the grove to your door, we are committed to providing the freshest, most flavorful produce. We take pride in the journey of every fruit and vegetable we handle.
Join the Sacred Earth Family
Whether you're looking to source exceptional local produce or you're a grower dedicated to sustainable farming, we’d love to work together toward a long-term, values-driven, and fruitful partnership.