SWEDESBORO, N.J. — Family-owned Marino Bros. is changing its name to Sun Valley Orchards LLC.
The grower-shipper of bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant and peaches decided changing its name to its longtime brand made more sense for its customers, said Joe Marino, director of sales and marketing.
“We have always operated under our Sun Valley trade name and customers all know us as Sun Valley, so we made the switch,” he said. “The change was more of an internal decision. The partnership as an operating entity is kind of an antiquated way to do business. It was a business decision to go to a limited liability corporation.”
While the Marinos were involved in changing the operating structure, it made sense to change its name as well, Marino said.
Russell Marino Sr., Joe Marino’s father and operations manager, and Benny Marino, one of Russell Marino’s brothers, formed the operation during the early 1970s.
Marino’s Sun Valley is not related to Glassboro-based Sunny Valley International, the sales agent for peach and blueberry grower Jersey Fruit Cooperative Association Inc.
In other news, Sun Valley began its first full season of shipping asparagus.
Marino said a mid-March warm spell accelerated production and helped hasten harvest in late March. However, successive cold weather stunted harvesting, he said.
Sun Valley grows 100 acres. New Jersey production normally starts in mid-April.
Also, Dick Mills, who formerly worked for Georgia Pacific and was a South Carolina grower, joined as warehouse operations manager Feb. 1.
Comments (0) Leave a comment