What do you get when you combine humility, integrity, and excellence with over a century of experience in agriculture? A formidable fruit operation that promises reliability, quality, and a committed approach to partnership.
A formidable fruit operation like Kings River Packing, that is.
With a historic legacy dating back to the mid-1800s, Kings River Packing has managed to strategically grow its brand and footprint while never losing sight of one fact: Citrus is a natural product grown in an environment nobody can fully control. While each season sparks its own new challenges, the generational citrus grower’s most central commitment—delivering the highest quality fruit in as uninterrupted a supply as possible—remains the same.
As the company puts another successful year in the books, Michelle Alo, Vice President of Marketing, sat down with The Snack to give us a glimpse of not only Kings River Packing’s accomplished history, but its promising future.
Michelle Alo, Vice President of Marketing, Kings River Packing: The Hazelton family settled near California’s Kings River in 1853 to raise cattle, laying the groundwork for a business shaped by hard work and perseverance. After a cattle drive in 1866, our founders planted the first orange trees in Fresno County, marking a shift that would define generations to come. From the beginning, Kings River has been guided by patience, resilience, and a commitment to building for the long-term.
For many generations, we were growers first. In 1977, we made the pivotal decision to build our own packing house so we could take greater ownership of quality and how our fruit reached the market. That shift allowed us not only to better serve our own groves, but to support other local grower families who needed a dependable partner they could build their future around.
The industry has changed significantly since then—year-round demand, evolving consumer expectations, tighter supply chains—but our response has always been intentional. We’ve grown carefully, building flexibility into our operation so we can adapt to change without losing the fundamentals that have sustained us for eight generations and counting.
MA: Our core values—humility, integrity, and excellence—guide us as we work with a natural product grown in an environment we can’t fully control. Humility keeps us grounded, knowing nature ultimately sets the pace. Integrity ensures we do everything within our control transparently and responsibly, from farming practices to packing and logistics. Excellence drives us to invest in technology, processes, and partnerships that help us overcome obstacles and consistently meet our customers’ expectations. These values allow us to navigate uncertainty while building trust across the entire supply chain.
Those values come to life in how we show up for our partners. We believe what we grow carries responsibility—to our growers, our customers, and the families who bring our fruit home. Recently, we welcomed a longtime retail partner to walk our original Heirloom Navel orchard, still producing some of the best Navels over 150 years later, and tour our packing facilities, sharing the full journey from harvest to shipment. Inviting partners into that story builds trust and underscores that today’s quality is rooted in more than 150 years of care and stewardship.
MA: Our growth strategy starts with a simple belief that growth should come from service instead of ambition.
That philosophy guides how we invest. We’ve expanded capacity, modernized our facilities, and implemented advanced sorting and grading technology to drive consistency and reduce variability. But technology alone isn’t what differentiates us.
What sets us apart is how intentionally everything works together—our growers, packing houses, logistics, and retail partnerships. When customers walk through our facilities, they see a deliberately integrated operation, designed to deliver dependable quality, season after season. That level of integration allows us to respond faster, plan further ahead, and support our partners in ways that go well beyond moving fruit.
"From the beginning, Kings River has been guided by patience, resilience, and a commitment to building for the long-term."
Michelle Alo, Vice President of Marketing, Kings River Packing
MA: Our focus moving forward is helping our retail partners succeed where it matters most—on the shelf.
We’re investing more heavily in marketing support because we know the end-consumer ultimately drives purchase decisions. Helping retailers engage shoppers more effectively keeps trips up and builds long-term category growth. At the same time, we’re doubling down on quality and supply planning, getting far enough ahead to adjust before challenges can ever become disruptions.
In an industry where so much is unpredictable, we work hard to control what we can. That consistency gives our partners confidence—not just in our fruit, but in the relationships behind it.
At the end of the day, our goal is simple: to make buying citrus easier, more dependable, and more rewarding for everyone involved.
In an industry defined by constant change, Kings River Packing stays grounded in what has always mattered—making thoughtful investments where it has the greatest impact. Rather than trying to manage every uncertainty, the company focuses on strengthening the areas that allow it to better serve its growers, partners, and end consumers alike. By investing in the right technology, facilities, and processes, Kings River creates consistency where it counts, supports long-term sustainability, and remains prepared to adapt as the future unfolds.
Michelle puts it simply: Success in citrus is built on trust—staying grounded and investing with purpose so the work we do today can be shared for generations. 
