Harding & Leggett, Inc.

Harding & Leggett's citrus packing roots are tied to more than 80 years of Orange Cove history.  Harry Harding established a citrus packing shed in 1928 under the name of Federal Fruit Distributors at the corner of Railroad and Center Streets in Orange Cove.  The name was changed to Harding & Leggett in 1936 when George Leggett bought into the business as a half partner.  The Partnership continued until Leggett's death 11 years later.  A change in ownership, but not in name, occurred in 1961, the same year Harry Harding died.  Several employees and growers purchased the facilities and formed a stockholder corporation.  Don and Priscilla Ketscher became sole owners of Harding & Leggett in 1977 when they bought the interests of the other stockholders.  The ownership has remained the same since 1977.

The packinghouse became affiliated with Sunkist Growers, Inc. as a licensed packer at the start of the 1965-66 navel season.  In 1982, the Center Street facility which had been used by the Zaninovich family predominately for grape packing and storage, was renovated to handle large amounts of citrus volume, utilizing state of the art equipment.  The new operation with this new equipment started in the 1984-85 navel season with great success.  As technology continues to improve, the company had upgraded to various processes that help make the plant more efficient.  Most recently, the company improved its operations in 2006 through the installation of an electronic pre-grader, a machine that is able to effectively and efficiently grade citrus fruits, including frost separation, a vital componet to the success of the 2006-07 season that had a freeze.  Other vital improvements is the installation of various wash and sanitation processes that help keep the fruit from spoiling during transport to our customers. 

The current management team has experienced personnel from all aspects of the business.  The General Manager Keeley Bramer was hired in 1995, bringing 20 years of citrus experience to the company.  Keeley reports to Caroline K. Alfheim, the director of the corporation and daughter of President Priscilla Ketscher.  Caroline assumed the director's role with the death of her father Don in 1993.  Caroline received her BS in business in 1998 at University of the Pacific, and later earned her MBA at Fresno State in 1992.  Her husband Rick Alfheim also joined the company in 1995 along with Keeley, and helps manage many of the administrative functions of the business.   Rick earned his accounting degree with honors at Fresno State in 1990.   Our other experienced personnel include our Shipping Supervisor Armando Alvarez (1980), Grade and Pack Supervisors Rose Galvez (1977) and Nellie Galvez (1976), respectively, and our Sales coordinator David Valencia (2005).  New to our team is field rep Fidel Chapa who joined us in March 2008 after we lost a very loyal field rep named Alex Pedregon (1989-2008).  Lastly, we recently added in April Phillip Giannetto to our Field Staff.  Several of our hourly workers have worked with the company for over 20 years!  We pride ourselves on creating a great working environment that people enjoy!   

Who We Are

Director Caroline K. Alfheim with Manager Keeley Bramer at the Sunkist Annual Meeting in 2007.