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Bruce Taylor, BS/BA 78, a third-generation Salinas lettuce grower, founded Taylor Farms in 1995 and built it into a $7 billion enterprise—North America’s leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods, with 25,000+ employees and 165 million servings of produce a week.
Bruce Taylor, BS/BA 78, a third-generation lettuce producer in Salinas, California, founded Taylor Farms in 1995 to become North America’s leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods. As Chairman and CEO, he’s built the company into a $7 billion enterprise with over 25,000 employees and 30 processing facilities. Operating across retail, foodservice, and prepared foods, Taylor Farms partners with every major retail group, club store, and quick-service restaurant chain in the country while producing 165 million servings of produce weekly. Along the way, the company has served as a model for innovation, sustainability, and food safety in the produce industry.
Taylor and financial partners launch Taylor Fresh Foods, parent of the Taylor Farms operating companies, in South Bay, Florida. Over the next 11 years, they create a national production footprint.
As chairman of the Produce Marketing Association, Taylor partners with the PMA to create the Center for Produce Safety at UC Davis to advance research and education. The company works with Western Growers Association (WGA) to create the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement to standardize food safety practices in the produce industry.
The company launches SmartWash Solutions, a revolutionary wash-water monitoring system to sanitize and prevent microbial cross contamination, and makes it available to the industry.
Taylor Farms enters the grocery store market with the first-ever branded prepackaged chopped salads with dressings and condiments, creating a fast-growing segment within the salad kit category.
Taylor Farms becomes the first fresh food company to receive TRUE Platinum certification in recognition of its Zero Waste Program. The company now has two production facilities in Mexico.
The company acquires Earthbound Farm, to grow its organic category; the Eat Smart brand; and FreshPoint Toronto, its first production facility in Canada.
Retail products now include salads and salad kits, vegetable trays, grab-and-go items, and ready-to-heat side dish and meal options. The company is now in five European countries, including Spain, Italy, and the U.K.
Taylor Farms launches a protein-forward product line of salad and vegetable kits and Taylor Farms ZERO, products made entirely without seed oils.
Taylor Farms was founded in 1995 by Bruce Taylor, BS/BA 78, a third-generation lettuce producer from Salinas, California. As chairman and CEO, he has built it into a $7 billion enterprise and North America’s leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods, with more than 25,000 employees, 30 processing facilities, and 165 million servings of produce per week.
Taylor helped create the Center for Produce Safety at UC Davis and the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement to standardize industry safety practices, and the company launched SmartWash Solutions to prevent microbial cross-contamination. In 2018 it became the first fresh food company to earn TRUE Platinum certification for its Zero Waste Program.
After introducing the first branded prepackaged chopped salads in 2012 and expanding into organic (Earthbound Farm) and international markets, Taylor Farms in 2026 launched a protein-forward line of salad and vegetable kits and Taylor Farms ZERO, products made entirely without seed oils. The company now operates in five European countries, Canada, and Mexico.
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