In the early 1950’s, Jess Port Telles, Jr., and his brother Frank began farming in the central San Joaquin Valley and in Arizona. This partnership became one of the most prominent agricultural operations in the Western United States, farming over forty thousand acres of cotton, melons, tomatoes, lettuce, barley and wheat. Together, Jess and Frank became the world’s largest growers and shippers of cantaloupes.

In the early 1970’s, with the assistance of newly hired Chief Financial Officer, Stephen Patricio, the two brothers amicably dissolved their partnership. Jess took this opportunity to form a new partnership with his three adult sons, Jess Port Telles III, James Telles, and Dr. John Telles. Together, the Telles Family diversified their business interests by incorporating Telles Ranches (TRI) and creating TRI Produce, TRI Citrus, TRI Transport, TRI Dairy, and the TRI Cotton Gin.

In the early 1990’s, due to unforeseen farming conditions and circumstances beyond the family’s control, the diversified holdings of Telles Ranches Incorporated were dissolved.

In 1993, with an established brand and extensive industry expertise, Jess, Stephen and James Malanca, then TRI Produce Sales Manager, formed Westside Produce as an independent handler of the finest quality cantaloupe and honeydew melons in the Central San Joaquin Valley.

In its first year of operations, Westside Produce struggled to find its niche in the industry; however, its transition to field packing and forced air cooling allowed on-demand marketing, enchanced intentory management, and significant decreases in throughput time for highly perishable commodities.

In its first twelve years, Westside Produce quickly became an industry leader in both service and quality, annually attracting some of the regions best cantaloupe and honeydew growers as its clients. Although the founding partners' years of experience in fresh produce served as a driving factor of their success, the trio gives credit to their open communication, cost management approach and wonderful support staff.

In December of 2004, Jess passed away at the age of 84. A graduate of Santa Clara University and Stanford Law School, Jess was more than an expert in agricultural and water law; he was a farmer, a businessman, a father, a grandfather, a pilot, and a philanthropist. Known for his honesty, integrity and propensity to treat people fairly, Jess was respected by his friends, colleagues and employees. An integral part of Westside Produce, Jess will be forever missed, but always remembered for his attention to detail, demand for order, commitment to quality and efficiency, and creative spirit.

In 2005, a youth movement began at Westside Produce with the hiring of Garrett Patricio, Blake Patricio and Justin Porter. These three twenty -somethings had worked for Westside Produce during their college years and were hired to facilitate sweeping changes in operations, finance and accounting, and information technology. Since his hiring, Garrett, an attorney and California CPA, has worked with Stephen and Jim to expand the operations of Westside Produce, initiating a Spring melon program Yuma, Arizona. Blake, a Calfornia CPA and graduate of Santa Clara University, has been responsible for the overhaul of Westside Produce's accounting and reporting system. The architect of information technology designed to bridge these new programs and processes is Justin, a graduate of the University of California, Davis. In his time at Westside Produce, Justin has assisted in the development of a state of the art bar coding system designed to track Westside Produce pallets from the field to the market recipient.

 

 

Stephen and Jim have firmly established Westside Produce as a leader in the melon industry; however they refuse to rest on their successes. With the assistance of their new hires and long-time "do everything" office administrator, Susie Borrelli, and computer programmer, Bruce Wetter, Westside Produce has set its sights on the next twenty years.

Cognizant of the changes in domestic agriculture and among the consolidated retail buying chains, in the future, Westside Produce will become more than a supplier. Westside Produce will become a service organization dedicated not only to its growers and retail consumers, but to changes in market demands. However, as quality, integrity and honesty continue to drive Westside Produce in the future, its "first class" service will continue to flourish.

 

 

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