Local Grow­ers

A young Stan­ford grad­u­ate seek­ing employ­ment in Sali­nas, H.W. “Cy” Mann began his career trim­ming fruit and let­tuce and load­ing grain onto box­cars for 40¢ an hour in the late 1930s. As a result of his hard work and ded­i­ca­tion, he became fore­man of a pro­duce shed. It was 1939 when he opened a fresh car­rot pack­ing oper­a­tion called, H.W. Mann. Shortly there­after, Mr. Mann found his claim to fame in the fresh veg­etable indus­try, namely broc­coli. It was in those early days that Mr. Mann built a rep­u­ta­tion for hon­esty and integrity — one that remains with the com­pany today.

In 1976, Bill Ram­sey and Don Nucci joined Mr. Mann as part­ners in the com­pany. Today, the Nucci & Ram­sey fam­i­lies lead the firm which now spans three gen­er­a­tions. Mann Pack­ing is a major­ity women-​owned and oper­ated busi­ness, and one of the country’s lead­ing sup­pli­ers of fresh veg­eta­bles, includ­ing washed and ready to use fresh-​cut veg­gies, snack packs and party trays, and washed and trimmed let­tuce prod­ucts for food­ser­vice. They are best known for their pro­pri­etary Broc­col­ini® prod­uct and award-​winning String­less Sugar Snap Peas.

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