Sunlit Fruit Company

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Summary
Main Location

Berkeley, CA
Active

-1920
Brands

Regent, Olympian, Academy, Alta[1] Atwater[2]
Successors

California Packing Corporation

Sunlit Fruit Company was a Berkeley-based canner. The company was known for packing in glass[3].

Sunlit in some cases made multi-year contracts with farmers. A case in 1920 affirmed that these contracts were legal[4] Elmer Jackson, a Yuba City orchardist, signed a ten year contract with Sunlit to sell peaches at $25/ton from his 19 acre orchard. He delivered the first year, but refused after that. A petition for rehearing gives more details about the contracts, with Jackson's heirs claiming that the contracts were negotiated based on wartime controlled prices that could not cover costs[5].

Sunlit was bought by Del Monte in 1920[6][7]. Some employees went to work for Virden Packing.

Locations

Location Years Address Details
Atwater 1920
West Berkeley 1920 2424 Fourth Street[8] Retained by Del Monte.

Photos

Photo: Warehouse. Oakland Public Library Fourth Street. Aaccording to caption on photo in Oakland Public Library Oakland Public Library

Photo: Bay shore at Berkeley via Bancroft Library.

References

  1. Patent logos. From Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office.
  2. Sweet potato label. thelabelman.com, 1910's. Sweet potatoes.
  3. Sunlit Fruit Company advertisement: Corona Club Cookbook San Francisco, 1910.
  4. Violates Fruit Contract: December 22, 1922 Retail Grocers Advocate.
  5. Martha M. Jackson vs. Sunlit Fruit Company: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Request for rehearing. Filed October 3, 1922.
  6. California Packing Corporation, 1921 Moody's Guide
  7. Sunlit Fruit Company Acquired by Packing Corporation: January 31, 1920.
  8. Handbook of Manufacturers in and Around San Francisco, 1910, The Merchants Association of San Francisco.