About Apples » Meet our Growers » Al Dietrich
Years in Business: 24 years
Family: Wife Helen, sons Dan, Mitchell and Carl and daughters Kate, Grace and Laura
Memberships and Organizations: Michigan Apple Committee Board and US Apple Association Board, previous Chairman of MACMA
History: Dietrich Orchards was started by Al Dietrich's great-great grandfather Joseph Dietrich five generations ago and the family business has remained intact ever since. However, Al, his brother Joe and his cousins Mike and Jim, have split the business into two operations. Al and his brother run Ridgeview Orchards and his cousins run Leo Dietrich and Sons. The two operations still operate through Dietrich Orchards, the packing, storing and shipping portion of the business.
Today: Ridgeview Orchards has expanded since Al joined in 1984 and now consists of 630 acres. Between the two farms there is more than 1,100 acres, 580 of which are apples. Both farms pack, store and ship all of their own apples, cherries and asparagus. They also do custom packing for other local growers. In 2007, they boxed more than 730,000 bushels of apples and packed 2.8 million pounds of fresh asparagus. Most of their fresh apples are sold through Ridgeview Produce.
With all the responsibilities, Al and Joe find it hard to be in all places at the same time. Fortunately they were able to find some quality help and have five full-time managers that help to run the apple operations, along with a few others that help with cherries and asparagus.
"Operations this size takes some really good managers you can trust to run things," Al says. "We are lucky to have enough help that can take on responsibilities in our absence. That makes our job a lot easier."
Looking to the future: Al and Joe are experimenting with a new high-density planting system. The new system packs in about 1,100 trees per acre, which is more than double the amount of their usual planting system. It will be at least another year or two before they can start to see the results, but they are expecting a good outcome.
Al hopes that the push for healthy living and healthy eating will continue to influence consumers to eat fresh apples and other apple products.