JON ESFORMES

CEO, SUNRIPE CERTIFIED BRANDS, PALMETTO; CO-MANAGING PARTNER, SMOKY MOUNTAIN FAMILY FARMS, NEWPORT, TENN.

The Esformes and Heller families started working in agriculture a century ago, pushing fresh produce carts in the streets of New York. Their businesses separately bloomed into growing operations. In 1982, they partnered to grow their first tomato crop — the start of what’s now known as Sunripe Certified Brands, an operation Jon Esformes leads that grows, packs and distributes tomatoes across the continent. In 2020, the two families also joined the Pappas family — another multigenerational legacy in the tomato industry — to grow the crop in eastern Tennessee under Smoky Mountain Family Farms. Esformes’ operations are strongholds for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program, and he is an outspoken advocate for farmworker rights and protections. He served on the Florida Farmworker Advisory Council in 2022 and shared his insights on labor issues at the 2023 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum.