In 1949, a young Bill and Jeannette Evans began farming their first apple orchard on Naches Heights, just outside of Yakima, WA. Working hard, and sacrificing more than most, Bill & Jeannette were able to keep food on the table, raise a family and invest a little back into their small 10 acre apple orchard.

By 1959, the Evans operation had grown to a 60 acre growing operation and the company built its first packing facility. Bill and Jeannette took great pride in farming, making sure that their apples were always flavorful and of the highest quality. The addition of a packing facility, now gave the Evans the ability to control the way their apples were grown and packed.

By 1967, the Evans operation expanded, hitting the 100 acre mark. Bill & Jeannette were always focused on growing the best quality apples and making sure that their apples were properly packed before being shipped to customers.

By 1975, the small family business had grown into a major operation owning and farming well over 500 acres of apple orchard. Bill and Jeannette’s vision was to farm extremely large blocks of fruit strategically located in prime growing regions around eastern Washington.

Today, the Evans own and farm over 8,000 acres of prime ground. Two of their 11 ranches are well over 2,000 acres each in size, representative of the largest apple orchards in Washington State. They also own three state-of-the-art production facilities that utilize all of the latest sorting and packing technology available. Evans Fruit Farms was ranked #1 for two consecutive years in Western Fruit Grower Magazine’s “Top 100 Growers” listing.

What about Bill and Jeannette?

Today, Jeannette is in her late eighties and remains intimately involved in every aspect of the day-to-day operations making sure you’re receiving the best apples available from Washington State. She somehow finds time to enjoy family and her many grandchildren, passing along words of wisdom attained through a lifetime of managing a farming business. She is an inspiration to many! Sadly, Bill passed in December of 2016. His personal ethics to work hard, stay focused, be honest and never give up are carried on through his grandchildren.