Journey of a Wawona Peach

The gorgeous blossoms bloom in the spring with clusters of single or double flowering peach petals. Single petal flowering peaches are more likely to bear fruit.

Peach trees are thinned by hand to prevent limb breakage and burden on the tree, increase the size of the remaining fruit, and improve the fruit’s quality and flavor.

When the peach reaches the Peak of Perfection, it is hand-picked and placed in a canvas pouch. Once the pouch is full, a Wawona team member gently allows the fruit to flow from the bottom of the canvas bag into a large fruit bin, which holds approximately 900 lbs.

The fruit is then transferred to our cold storage facility, where the field heat is removed, and temperature is kept at 34 degrees until the peach is ready to be processed. This cooling process is an important step to allow the fruit to go onto the next step of its life cycle while preventing the ripening process that softens the peach.

The peach is then trucked from cold storage to our processing facility, which includes washing and sizing conveyors. This is where the peach is peeled, pitted, halved, sliced, diced, and sometimes made into a puree.

The most important part of our process is the freezing process. Most of our products are Individually Quick Frozen, or IQF. Freezing allows us to hit a PAUSE button on Mother Nature and hold in all the fresh flavor and natural nutrients of the peach!

After being frozen, our products are shipped out to all the markets we serve – foodservice, industrial, schools, retail – for use in pies, ice creams, smoothies, and beyond. But most importantly, it is shared so all of you can truly enjoy, “Fruit As It Should Be.”