Our History

Latter Day Johnny Appleseed

For over 70 years, Grady Auvil led Auvil Fruit Company to be one of the pioneers in the growing and merchandising of apples in the Pacific Northwest. Best known among growers for his innovative production practices, much of Grady's success rested on a shrewd sense of market opportunities.

For instance, noting the vast amount of red apples on the market, Grady introduced the Granny Smith to Washington State. The result was history. In all of Grady's ventures the company was guided by a basic policy: to deliver superior dessert quality fruit to consumers. With boundless enthusiasm, Grady encouraged his fellow growers to adopt this policy. What distinguished Grady was that he saw this goal in terms of the whole process of production and marketing, from selecting varieties to the check-out counter. In doing so he moved the entire Washington apple industry one step closer to perfection.

Gee Whiz Label

One day Grady and a friend were in the orchard talking about a new variety of peach Auvil Fruit Company was growing, the friend said

"Grady, when people eat your fruit they say, Gee Whiz that is a good piece of fruit."

Well, the rest is history. Below shows the labels Auvil Fruit Company has used in the past and present.

The first Auvil label was the start of the oval design, but did not include the words Gee Whiz.

First Gee Whiz Label

Today's Gee Whiz Label

Auvil Fruit Company Timeline

Year	Event
1928	Founded Auvil Fruit
1941	Established Red Haven Peaches in the Northwest
1948	Introduced the use of grass cover in orchards
1950's	Auvil Orchard replanted on higher ground after building of Rocky Reach dam and development of Lake Entiat
1952	Demonstrated advantage of poplar windbreaks
1960	Introduced Red Gold Nectarine to Northwest
1968	Established Tree Fruit Research Commission
1972	First Commercial Plantings of Granny Smith apple in Washington State
1973	Pioneers use of M26 Rootstocks on apples
1975	First to successfully market Rainier cherries
1976	Introduced double-row planting of Granny Smith
1980	First new Granny Smith plantings at 1,000 acre orchard near Vantage, Washington
1995	Completion of new $5 million packing warehouse and fruit storage facility in Orondo
1998	Grady Auvil received Washington State's highest honor, The Washington Medal of Merit by Gov. Gary Locke
1999	First commercial production of the Auvil Early Fuji