Sunkist® stories, articles & musings

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Our Growers

Meet the Reid Brothers

From treehouse kids to third generation Sunkist growers, A.J. and Robie Reid are carrying a hard earned legacy into the future—one quality orange at a time.

Reid Brothers

Roots: From San Juan Capistrano to the Central Valley

Reid Ranches didn’t start in oranges. The family began as groundcrop growers in Orange County, California. In 1981, A.J. and Robie’s grandfather and father—along with six of their father’s siblings—made a bold move. They sold their ground crops and a historic property, the Forrester Mansion off Ortega Highway, and headed north to the Central Valley. By 1984 they were buying groves—citrus, olives, and walnuts—and over time farmed as many as 450 acres.

Today, Reid Ranches grows navels, seedless lemons, lemons, and late season Powell Navels. But the real story is how the family got here—and why they’ve stayed.

“We were, in a sense, half pickers, half farmers.”

—A.J. Reid

Relics collected over decades dot the landscape around the Reid’s old red barn.

Growing Up Reid: Work Boots, Flea Markets, and Night Sprays

The brothers’ childhood reads like a Central Valley rite of passage. There were early mornings checking water and long summer nights riding shotgun on the spray rig. There were weekends at flea markets and yard sales—earning money by cleaning furrows or checking lines, then spending it on school clothes, tools, and the occasional video game. They built treehouses in the groves, knocked sprinklers off with golf clubs (“and got yelled at for it”), and learned to love the country life so much that A.J. later moved back after a brief stint in the city.

Their dad had a simple rule: make a mistake once, learn, and don’t make it again. That expectation—paired with the sheer grind of farming—shaped how both brothers show up today.

What stuck most was the work ethic.

Inspirational Quote

“If you want something good in life, you gotta work really hard for it—and you can’t let up.”

—A.J. Reid

Branching Out: Careers That Span Field, Packhouse, and Market

Both A.J. and Robie took routes that gave them a 360° view of citrus—from the field to the packing line to the consumer.

A.J. Reid cut his teeth on the ranch, then stepped into corporate agriculture: first as a field manager at Sequoia Orange (Exeter) in 2014, then as a grower representative at Porterville Citrus (PCI), a major Sunkist packer. There, he focused on Minneolas and organics and contributed to growth reports and contract pricing. Today he serves as VP of Field Operations at Booth Ranches, overseeing 7,000+ acres.

—A.J. Reid

Robie Reid stepped away after high school to study physical therapy, nutrition, and dietetics—he’s also a lifelong runner and marathoner—but eventually returned to the ranch and found his way to the packing side. He started in quality control at PCI and is now the Packing House Manager in Strathmore, managing export programs for navels across Korea, Japan, and U.S. retail. Last season he traveled to Korea and saw Reid Ranches’ late navels on shelves—an experience he calls “full circle.”

“We packed it, shipped it, then I watched consumers in Korea enjoy our fruit and tell us why. Unreal.” —Robie Reid

Sunkist Lifestyle

One Big Family

The Coop Difference: One Big Family

Sunkist has been a farmer-owned cooperative for generations, and the Reids are clear about why that matters. In an era of consolidation and investment group agriculture, a co-op creates room for small and midsized growers to compete on quality, not just scale.

“We’re all fighting for one thing: put a good piece of fruit in the box. We might do it differently, but the standard is the same.” —A.J. Reid

That spirit shows up in how they talk about their community. Many of the friends they grew up with now run their own family ranches and pack with Sunkist. The coop brings them back together—this time as partners

Chess, Not Checkers: Grow With Intent

Farming is a long game, and the Reids approach it like strategists. They work backward from the market—by variety, seasonality, size structure, and destination—to plan each block with a purpose.

“Each block, we grow with intention.” 
—Robie Reid

That might mean targeting early Washington navels for export to Korea and Japan when those markets want specific sizes (56s, 72s, 88s) or holding Powells for late windows. It means being honest when defects show up—thrips, wind scars, or seasonal pressure—and not sugarcoating the grade if a lot won’t make an A box.

“If we don’t protect the grade, we lose the customer. It’s a two way street.” 
—Robie Reid

A.J. puts it bluntly: with inflation, tariffs, and rising costs, “growing citrus has become so hard.” In a typical five year stretch, two or three years might be good. The rest require grit, discipline, and smart risk taking.

“We get the chance to play chess while others play checkers—because we see the field, the pack, and the market.” —A.J. Reid

—Robie Reid

Legacy in Motion: The Next Generation

The Reids are third generation growers with their eyes on a fourth. A.J. and his wife, Gabriele (a clinical lab scientist), bring their daughter into the groves to pick oranges and just welcomed a new baby boy to the family. Robie talks about educating younger growers so small ranches don’t have to sell out—teaching them the business, the water realities, and how to make smart, intentional decisions.

At Reid Ranches, legacy isn’t nostalgia. It’s a daily practice—checked lines, clean furrows, straight talk at the packhouse, and fruit that meets the moment.

Reid Family

Third generation Sunkist growers A.J. and Robie Reid share how Reid Ranches “grows with intent,” from the grove to global markets—and keeps legacy alive.

Reid Ranches, Sunkist growers, Central Valley citrus, Porterville Citrus PCI, Booth Ranches, navels, Powells, 
seedless lemons, citrus export Korea, coop farming

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