Meet Our Fruit Buyer: Randy Sohler

Randy Sohler is a Hood River, Oregon native.  Being near to an Orchard is in his blood as his father’s family are all farmers of fruits, vegetables, floriculture or flowers.  Randy and his father bought a home with 5 acres of cherries and worked hard to bring that to life.

As The Fruit Company’s Fruit Buyer, Randy orders all of our fruit by planning and projecting quantities, while continually checking on our inventory levels.  For our Fruit of the Month Club (HarvestClub), he plans the fruit purchasing 4 weeks in advance and works on that plan 2 – 3 times each week keeping tabs on it till the day it comes.

It’s important to gift fruit when it’s at its freshest. The fruit is picked just before it is fully ripe which allows for it to be shipped and ripened on its way or on the counter in the customer’s home. Randy feels confident in our fruit as he knows where it has come from. Many times, he watched it being picked, then brought it to The Fruit Company, and has even helped to sort the fruit.

Understanding when fruit is in season is also Randy’s specialty. Fruit has a traditional time of year that it follows but Mother Nature also can come into play. He communicates with Orchardists and Packers on timelines of the fruit we purchase from local growers.

The process for purchasing fruit is that we take inventory levels three times a week. Thus, we will be the first to notice if there is a run on an item and it is getting low. When Holiday season approaches, we plan 3-4 months in advance. Randy will search for the highest quality fruits (if not grown by us) and acquire samples.  

Sampling is extremely important when it comes to fruit for overall taste and quality. Our fruit is inspected for the gift grade and then socked for storage. 

Randy’s favorite thing about working for The Fruit Company is the atmosphere. We all have the freedom of looking outside the box to get the best results. He is grateful for the professional manner that is respected here.