WHY WAWONA
The Wawona Way
Fruit As It Should Be
Every day, Wawona Frozen Foods’ commitment to excellence justifies its reputation for delivering superior quality, value and service. It’s determined to efficiently produce and deliver the best fruit products available, and to be a valued partner in each customer’s success. Wawona’s state-of-the-art production methods and facilities ensure consistent high-quality products – all while maintaining the highest food safety standards as required by the USDA and state regulators. By choosing fruit varieties developed especially for freezing, Wawona offers fruit with delicious flavor, superb texture, outstanding color, and uniform size.
THE FAMILY
- Family owned and operated business with unwavering commitment to quality and responsiveness
- Oldest and largest processor of frozen peaches in U.S.
- Company philosophy is “Continuous Improvement” with extensive emphasis on safe working conditions and food safety
- Invests heavily in innovation to attain greater efficiency and cost savings
THE FRUIT
- Sourced from long-time grower-partners as well as company-owned peach orchards
- Quality control starts in the orchards and fields which are tended to year-round
- Conventional and organic fruit available – sustainably grown and hand-harvested
- Continuous monitoring and inspections – during harvesting, processing and packaging
THE PROCESS
- State-of-the-art facilities and methods to process and package frozen fruit
- Individual Quick Freezing – Allows harvesting of fresh, mature fruit, resulting in ideal firmness, appearance and sweetness
- Seals and preserves fruit’s flavors, nutrients and natural goodness
- Fresh frozen fruit is better for food safety, more nutritious and more convenient for customers
THE PRODUCTS
- National distribution for fresh frozen fruit in foodservice, industrial, retail and school segments
- Highest quality peaches hand-selected for Signature Sliced Peaches in dessert products
- Greater flexibility – Low minimum orders, mix and match fruit orders
- Order customization – Variety of fruit cuts and styles and convenient pack sizes
Visons & Values
Wawona Frozen Foods is committed to growing and processing the highest quality fresh frozen fruit products for food manufacturers, foodservice distributors, restaurants and resorts, supermarkets and schools.
Since its founding, Wawona has built its company around the firm belief that the process of freezing fresh fruit delivers it at the optimum standards for color, sweetness and texture. Unlike canning, which requires very firm fruit, fresh frozen allows fruit selection that mimics the fresh-picked appearance and taste of fruit picked at the peak of its maturity. This provides Wawona with tremendous control over fruit-specific criteria, such as ideal firmness and brix (natural sugar) content.
Whether a product proudly carries the Wawona name or the name of a valued co-packer, it’s treated with the same attention-to-detail and commitment to quality – matching exact specifications and field-to-dock tracking. Wawona prides itself in the ability to create products that meet customers’ specific needs and exceed their expectations.
As a family-owned company, Wawona Frozen Foods enjoys a solid reputation built on quality and leading to:
- An ever-expanding product line
- Satisfied customers from many of the nation’s top brands
- A leadership team and staff who embody respect, fairness and decency
Community - A Tradition of Giving Back
Wawona Frozen Foods is committed to giving back to its local community. In fact, going above and beyond is part of the legacy of founder Earl Smittcamp and his wife, Muriel. They made numerous donations to the greater Fresno area, providing funding to many non-profits. For example, their $2 million donation helped to create the Smittcamp Family Honors Program at Fresno State in 1998, and funded the Smittcamp Alumni House.
Current CEO Bill Smittcamp has continued his parents’ tradition of giving back. He focuses much of his giving on Valley Children’s Healthcare, where he serves as chairman of the board of trustees. Bill also serves on the board of directors of Central Valley Community Bank and CSU Fresno Foundation.
Valley Children’s Hospital Annual Campaign
Every year, the employees at Wawona Frozen Foods participate in an Employee Giving Campaign to support Valley Children’s Hospital. The company asks employees to give what they can. Some give a little and some give a lot! Every dollar donated by an employee is matched by Wawona and is then also matched by the Smittcamp Family. In 2018, the employees, the company and the Smittcamp family presented a check for more than $76,000 to Valley Children’s Healthcare CEO Todd Suntrapak and George the Giraffe!
Clovis Peach Party
The Smittcamp Family at 25th Annual The Peach Party! Peaches are the main attraction during the Peach Party, held every summer during Farmers Market. Proud sponsor and host, Wawona Frozen Foods, graces the streets of Old Town Clovis Farmers Market with an artful display of peach products and peach samples for visitors to enjoy!
