When a 158-Year Partnership Crumbles: Martinelli's Leaves Apple Farmers Bulldozing Their Orchards

Imagine building your entire livelihood around a single customer for generations, only to wake up one day and find out they’ve decided to shop elsewhere. That’s the reality hitting apple farmers in Pajaro Valley right now, and the aftermath is as brutal as it sounds.

S. Martinelli&Company, the 158-year-old cider empire that’s been sourcing Newtown pippin apples from the Watsonville area since 1868, has quietly canceled contracts with local growers. The fallout is devastating: farmers are literally bulldozing acres of apple trees because they have no one to sell to anymore. Some are leasing their land to berry farmers just to keep the lights on. It’s a far cry from the century-plus partnership that defined the region’s agricultural identity.

Karell Reader, who owns Luz del Valle Farm in Watsonville, watched her neighbor’s fate unfold with heartbreak. Though Reader pivoted her own operation to a U-pick model years ago—she’d sensed the shift when out-of-state trucks started appearing at Martinelli’s processing plant in 2022—many smaller farmers weren’t as adaptable. The math is brutal: apples from Santa Cruz County cost about $400 per ton, while Washington apples go for just $135 a ton. Martinelli’s CEO Gun Ruder issued a statement saying the company remains committed to the Pajaro Valley, but declined to share specifics about the cancellations or how many farmers were affected. That’s corporate speak for“we’re not explaining ourselves.”

The damage ripples far beyond the orchards. Apple pruners, seasonal workers, and cold storage facilities that relied on the harvest are all collateral damage. Noah Gizdich, whose family farm has worked with Martinelli’s since the 1930s, expressed a worry that captures the real tragedy here: older farmers might give up and retire rather than rebuild at their stage of life. Without Martinelli’s support—labor, equipment, pest control chemicals included—many of them simply can’t compete.

This isn’t an isolated incident. Del Monte canceled 20-year contracts with Central California peach farmers just months earlier, leaving them facing $550 million in collective revenue loss and forced to remove 420,000 clingstone peach trees. When giant corporations pivot their supply chains for cheaper options, entire communities get restructured. Reader’s parting reflection says it all:“We saw the writing on the wall. I don’t think anyone wanted to believe they would be betrayed.”