Tulare County’s ‘ugly’ fruit is now available nationwide

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Central Valley company is giving new life to fruit once considered too “ugly” for store shelves— and now, their healthy snacks are in Walmart nationwide.

In the heart of Farmersville, a small team of about 90 employees is on a mission to save fruit that would otherwise go to waste.

“Both of my parents worked in the fields and I remember following the cherry season up to Washington and I would work with my parents, and my dad would always say, oh, these are the best pieces of fruit the wrinkly, and the most ugly ones,” said Edith Maciel, who is the Chief of Administration.

That ugly fruit is now at the center of the Ugly Company, founded by army veteran and fourth-generation farmer Ben Moore, who first came up with the idea while working as a truck driver.

“And then I would also get paid to haul and dump the fruit that they couldn’t sell fresh. So, me, as the big hungry truck driver, I just said ‘hey, there’s got to be something better to do with this fruit than dump it out,'” said Moore. 

Moore took action, building a facility that transforms cosmetically imperfect plums, peaches, cherries, and nectarines into dried snacks with no added sugars.

“We take the fruit, and we wash it, fit it, slice it and dry it, and then we prepare it for long-term storage. and then as soon as we’re ready to sell the fruit, we pull the fruit back out of storage, do some quality control and rehydration, and then we package it and ship it all over the world,” said Moore.

Now these snacks are in 180 Walmart stores nationwide.

To date, the ugly company has saved over 13 million pounds of fruit, with a goal to reach 100 million by 2035.

“Ultimately, it all comes down to helping our local farmers get a good return for the fruit that they otherwise couldn’t sell. But also, it’s about preventing fruit from being thrown out as well and feeding, feeding good, good people with good, healthy product,” said Moore.

From the fields to Walmart shelves, the ugly company proves that a few blemishes don’t take away from what’s beautiful on the inside.

For a list of store locations, you can visit the Ugly Co. website.