Sun-Gro Commodities Inc Information

Sun-Gro Commodities Inc. was founded in 1974 by present Owner/CEO Don Smith. Both Don and his wife Judy have provided an active role in the day to day operation of the corporation since the inception of the company. Don and Judy have since been joined by their three children (Scott, Wendy and Lori), truly creating a family business. Sun-Gro Commodities was formed out of a bulk trucking partner-ship between Don and his father that was formed in 1966. Through the day to day of their trucking operation, Don discovered a need for an agricultural by-product recycler dating back to the late 1960's and into the early 1970's, making what we know as today's Sun-Gro Commodities as one of the first "green" companies, long before the term became known as it is today. Sun-Gro Commodities has operated an agricultural commodity processing facility in north Bakersfield at the Poso Airport since the mid 1970's. The majority of those processing activities has comprised of the solar drying of various agricultural products. Sun-Gro Commodities founded it's bulk commodity operations on pioneering the use of Grape Pomace from the greater San Joaquin Valley and the Alta Loma-Cucamonga area. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables produced in and around Kern County are transported to the Poso Airport property where they are spread to a depth of two to three inches on the airport tarmac and allowed to dehydrate in the warm Kern County sun. Products are then stockpiled and eventually shipped to various dairies and cattle feed-yards throughout California.