California farmer giving away 125,000+ pounds of nectarines amid lawsuit
Mora says he is giving away the crop after losing a market for the fruit and facing a legal fight over exclusive variety rights.
- Central California farmer Cesar Mora has given away more than 100,000 pounds of his white nectarine harvest for free this week rather than watching the crop rot due to an ongoing legal battle.
- The dispute stems from a 2023 breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Giumarra Brothers Fruit Company, an industrial produce marketer accusing Mora of illegally bypassing their exclusive marketing agreement by selling the proprietary "Monalise" fruit variety to alternative packers.
- Mora has filed a cross-complaint alleging that the produce marketer engaged in unfair and fraudulent business practices, arguing that the company previously discarded half of his harvest and failed to generate a sustainable financial return for his orchard.
- While the farmer's legal team claims the company misrepresented having a legal U.S. patent on the specific fruit tree variety, a superior court judge ruled that the underlying contracts remain valid regardless of the fruit's patent status.
- The legal gridlock has cost the third-generation grower a quarter of his yearly income ahead of a formal trial scheduled for later this month, prompting thousands of local residents to visit the orchard to distribute the fruit and donate to an online fundraiser.
53 Articles
53 Articles
California farmer and food marketer spar over who can sell white necta
Thousands of visitors have flocked to Cesar Mora’s farm in central California this week to gather free nectarines. He’s giving his harvest away rather than watching it rot as he’s locked in a legal battle with a company that claims exclusive rights over the variety of white nectarine he grows. He’s shared more than 100,000 pounds (45,359 kilograms) since Monday. “It was really just a thought of not wasting a perfectly good product,” Mora said. “…
Associated Press News
California farmer and food marketer spar over who can sell white nectarines
A California farmer has been giving away free nectarines this week amid a legal dispute with a food market and distributing company claiming exclusive rights over the variety of white nectarine he grows.
California farmer gives away thousands of nectarines as his crop goes unsold
After failing to line up a market for this season's fruit, a Reedley, California, grower has opened his orchard and told visitors they can pick nectarines at no cost. Attention from a widely shared social media clip turned the setback into a public invitation, while also pointing to the squeeze that can hit smaller farms when harvests go unsold due to disputes or corporate competition. What happened? The farmer, Cesar Mora, said that between Jun…
Because he is not allowed to sell his nectarines because of a bitter dispute, a Californian fruit farmer gives away the entire harvest. On TikTok he goes viral with his content.
Come Take My Nectarines, Farmer Says
San Joaquin Valley growers are in peak harvest mode—except on Cesar Mora's 7.5-acre nectarine orchard, where the California farmer said he's giving his crop away rather than let it rot during a bitter contract fight. Mora, a third-generation grower, has turned to TikTok, Instagram, and a website, nonectarineswasted....
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