Pacific Fruit Products

Summary

Business	Dried Fruit Packer
Active	1900-1922
Brands	Sanitas
Aliases	Ernst Luehning Company

Locations

Location	Years	Address	Details
San Francisco	1912	210 California	New can
San Francisco	1919, 1922	112 Market Street	Santa Marina Building.
San Jose	1906 1910, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1922	740 West San Carlos Street	Leased to Rosenberg Brothers in 1906, leased to American Fruit Product Company in 1903.
Suisun (1912, 1916)	1912, 1916

Details

Successor: San Jose plant sold to Sunsweet.

Firewood shipped to them at Campbell by Hihn in 1901.

Plant built in 1903 according to June 25, 1903 San Jose Evening News "The Ernst Luerning Company's packing house, opposite the California Canners' Association at the narrow gauge is also nearing completion."

Dried fruit, jam, and marmalade maker acc. to 1922 directory of San Francisco manufacturers.

Became associated with California Prune and Apricot Growers in 1917, packer for 1917 season.

Western Canner and Grower reported plant sold to California Prune and Apricot Growers in 1922 for use as receiving and packing station.

President in 1914 was Ernst Leuhning according to October 10, 1914 California Fruit News Sanitas brand, as seen in July 20, 1918 issue of California Fruit News April 24, 1920 San Jose Evening News notes "To Market Cherries: All eastern shipments of cherries this year will be made by the recently former Fruit Growers' of California, Inc. through the California fruit exchange of Sacramento, which has a strong system of selling agencies throughout the country. The members of the organization will deliver their cherries for eastern shipment at the receiving warehouse of the Pacific Fruit Products company on West San Carlos Street where it will be packed and shipped."

"July 28, 1900 Pacific Rural Press ":

mentions that the Ernst Luehning Company has a big plant in Suisun, handling almonds as well. Luehning moved to Suisun in 1896 from Newcastle. May have been mayor of Fairfield in 1906.

Sawyer's 1922 history of Santa Clara County notes that "James Edwin Blaurock ":

was the manager of the plant; he arrived in San Jose in 1911, and became plant manager in 1916. In 1922, they were packing for Sunsweet during the season, and also maintaining a jam department and packed cherries and other green fruit. (The 1930 Census says that Blaurock was still the manager of a dried fruit packing house.)

Any chance the Pacific Fruit Products was an attempt to get rid of the german name in World War I?

740 West San Carlos Street San Jose plant visible on Sanborn map: Visible on Sanborn map, In July 21, 1917 San Jose Evening News list of Sunsweet collection stations. 1915 Sanborn map shows grader on fourth floor, bins and grader on 3rd, bins and processor on 2nd, warehouse on first, box and shook assembly separate. Sulfur house on 3rd floor, separate boiler room with 6000 gallon tank.

Suisun plant July 22, 1916 Lodi Sentinel mentions the rental of the plant to the California Peach Growers. "The plant will handle three cars of peaches a day and has a storage capacity of 2,000 tons. The peaches from Marysville and the Northern San Joaquin Valley will be handled at this packing house. A selling contract has been entered into with this firm to handle the peach output from the Santa Clara Valley in the packing house at San Jose." 1912 "History of the Solano and Napa Counties, California" mentions Ernst Leuhning and Armsby as having large packing houses in Suisun. Appears in city directory for 1906 at "San Carlos Street at narrow gauge."