Grady Auvil learned from experience the only way to get quality fruit from the orchard to the consumer was to pack and ship the fruit yourself. So in 1947 we built a packing plant at our corporate headquarters in Orondo, Washington.

Auvil's first packing plant under construction in this picture was able to produce 500 to 1000 packed boxes of fruit a day.

First packing shed 1947

The new Packing Plant in this next picture is able to produce 6000 to 11000 packed boxes a day, with about the same staff as the old plant.

New packing plant 1994

Inside the packing plant is state of the art computerized packing equipment that gives us greater daily production and more flexibility, while at the same time keeping consistent quality in every box packed.

Quality in every box.

Auvil does not stop there, we use a specially made foam tray, which gives the apples in the box a much softer ride to market. We are one of the few packing plants that use this tray.

Sugar, starch, acid and the apples pressure measurement must be at specific levels before we pick our fruit to ensure flavor, crispness and storage ability. All of this is tested in our in-house lab.

Measuring the Sugar content of the apple.

To keep with our philosophy on quality, we work with the Tree Research Commission and fruit research department at Washington State University to continuously try to improve the process of storing, packing and shipping our fruit.