Lundberg Family Farms

Lundberg Family Farms is a family-owned agricultural and packaged-food company based in Richvale, California. The business traces its beginning to 1937, when Albert and Frances Lundberg moved from Nebraska to California during the period following the Great Depression. Their original 40-acre holding consisted of hard clay soil that proved well suited to rice cultivation. What began as a small family farm developed into an integrated rice business that grows, processes, markets, and distributes rice and rice-based foods. The Lundberg family built its identity around farming practices intended to reduce environmental harm. One early example was Albert Lundberg's decision to incorporate leftover rice straw into the soil rather than burn it, using the residue as a source of organic matter and fertilizer. This approach became part of a broader commitment to soil stewardship and alternatives to conventional agricultural practices. The company later became an early American marketer of branded organic rice products and remains strongly associated with organic and sustainability-oriented food production. The company operates on a comparatively large scale for an organic farming business. Reference material describes approximately 14,000 acres under management, including land owned by the company and additional acreage farmed under contract. About 70 percent of the managed area has been described as organic, while the remainder has been characterized by the company as eco-farmed. The eco-farming approach uses selected pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and other inputs with the stated aim of reducing environmental impact while retaining enough productivity and cost efficiency to serve conventional markets. Lundberg's product portfolio centers on rice and rice-derived foods. It includes organic and conventional rice varieties, brown rice, specialty rice, rice cakes, and other packaged organic foods. The brand has also been associated with rice milk and wild rice products. Its vertically integrated model allows the family business to control much of the growing, handling, milling, packaging, and distribution rather than only farm-level production. Environmental energy use has been an important part of the company's public profile. In 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Lundberg Family Farms a Green Power Leadership Award because the company offset all of its electricity use through wind-energy certificates. Reference material identifies it as the first organic food manufacturer to receive that recognition and as one of the larger purchasers of renewable-energy certificates in California at the time. The company has also been listed in the EPA Green Power Partnership program. Lundberg Family Farms remains privately owned by the Lundberg family. Its brand positioning combines organic food, family ownership, agricultural traceability, and environmental stewardship. Available reference material does not provide a current executive roster, detailed financial information, or a complete picture of international distribution, so those fields are not reported.

Lundberg Family Farms originated in 1937, when Albert and Frances Lundberg left Nebraska for Richvale, California. The family had previously farmed wheat and corn in Nebraska, but the California property they acquired was better suited to rice. Their first holding covered approximately 40 acres and consisted of difficult clay soil. Rice cultivation gave the family a viable agricultural base and established the crop that would define the business for generations. From its earliest years, the Lundberg operation experimented with farming methods intended to protect soil and reduce waste. When neighboring farms burned their post-harvest rice straw, Albert Lundberg developed a practice of plowing the residue back into the fields. This returned organic material to the soil and reduced the need to treat rice straw as waste. The practice reflected the family's broader interest in ecological farming before organic food had become a major consumer category. Albert and Frances's sons—Wendell, Eldon, Harlan, and Homer—expanded the family enterprise. To process their crop, they built their own rice mill and established a company called Wehah Farm, a name formed from the brothers' initials. Milling and handling capabilities enabled the family to move beyond growing rice as a commodity and to develop packaged products under its own brand. This vertical integration later became a defining feature of the business. The Lundbergs were early participants in the American organic-food market. The company is described as the first American business to produce and market a branded organic rice product. Its organic focus gradually expanded from rice farming into a broader portfolio of rice foods and organic packaged products, including rice cakes and other rice-based offerings. Family ownership remained central as the company grew, distinguishing it from publicly traded agribusinesses and large food conglomerates. The farm base expanded substantially from the original 40 acres. Reference material describes approximately 14,000 acres under management, with about 5,000 acres owned by the company and approximately 9,000 additional acres farmed through contracts. Around 70 percent of the managed acreage has been described as organically farmed. The remaining acreage is referred to as eco-farmed: it uses conventional agricultural inputs, but with selected pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and fewer cover crops than the company's organic acreage. This two-part model allows Lundberg to maintain an organic core while also competing in portions of the conventional rice market. The company's environmental profile became especially visible through its energy program. In 2004, the EPA gave Lundberg Family Farms a Green Power Leadership Award after the company offset 100 percent of its electricity consumption through wind-energy certificates. The award recognized the scale of its renewable-energy purchasing and identified the company as an early organic food manufacturer to make such a commitment. Lundberg has also been associated with the EPA Green Power Partnership. Today, Lundberg Family Farms is a privately held family business headquartered in Richvale. Its operations span farming, rice processing, packaged-food production, and marketing. The available reference material confirms its continuing family ownership and established organic-food identity, but does not provide a full current management roster, detailed financial results, or a precise list of present-day international markets.

• 2004

  EPA recognizes the company's renewable-energy program

  [1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  Lundberg Family Farms receives the EPA Green Power Leadership Award after offsetting all of its electricity use with wind-energy certificates.

• 1937

  The Lundbergs establish a rice farm in California

  [1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  Albert and Frances Lundberg move from Nebraska to Richvale, California, and begin farming rice on approximately 40 acres.

• The family develops residue-recycling practices

  [1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  Albert Lundberg begins incorporating leftover rice straw into the fields instead of burning it, establishing an early example of the family's ecological farming approach.

• The Lundberg brothers establish a milling business

  [1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  Wendell, Eldon, Harlan, and Homer Lundberg build a rice mill and form Wehah Farm, allowing the family to process and market its own rice.

• Lundberg enters branded organic rice

  [1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  The company becomes an early American producer and marketer of branded organic rice products.

Premium and environmentally oriented organic rice and rice-based foods brand emphasizing family ownership, sustainable agriculture, and vertically integrated production.

• Rice

  Organic rice

  Organic rice is the core of Lundberg Family Farms' identity and product portfolio. The company grows and markets rice under an organic farming model and became an early American producer of branded organic rice. The range is associated with staple cooking formats and multiple rice varieties, allowing the brand to serve consumers seeking certified or environmentally oriented alternatives to conventional rice. Organic brown rice is a prominent whole-grain offering within the company's rice portfolio. It retains the bran layer removed from white rice and is marketed as a staple for home cooking. Within Lundberg's positioning, brown rice connects nutritional and organic-food values with the company's long-standing focus on rice cultivation and soil-conscious agriculture.

• Snack foods

  Rice cakes

  Lundberg rice cakes extend the company beyond uncooked grains into ready-to-eat packaged snacks. They are made from rice and represent one of the brand's best-known value-added product categories. The line supports the company's organic and natural-food positioning while using the crop at the center of its farming and milling operations.

• Plant-based beverages

  Rice milk

  Rice milk is a rice-derived beverage associated with Lundberg's broader packaged organic-food portfolio. It illustrates the company's effort to develop value-added products from rice rather than concentrating exclusively on whole grains and milling. No specific formulation, launch date, or current distribution information is established in the supplied references.

• Rice and grains

  Wild rice

  Wild rice products are included among the specialty rice offerings associated with Lundberg Family Farms. They broaden the range beyond standard white and brown rice and fit the brand's emphasis on distinctive grains and organic-oriented packaged foods. The supplied sources do not specify the precise product formats or current assortment.

• 2004

  Adoption of a 100 percent green-power electricity strategyStrategy

  Background

  Lundberg Family Farms sought to align its manufacturing and agricultural operations with its environmental positioning by addressing the electricity used by the business.

  Action taken

  The company offset all of its electricity use with wind-energy certificates and participated in the EPA Green Power Partnership.

  Aftermath

  The initiative led to an EPA Green Power Leadership Award and strengthened the company's public association with renewable energy and sustainable food production.

  Source

• 2004

  Lundberg Family Farms receives EPA Green Power Leadership Award[1]Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Lundberg Family Farms for offsetting all of its electricity use with wind-energy certificates. The recognition highlighted the company's renewable-energy purchasing and its position as an organic food manufacturer using green power.

1. 1Lundberg Family Farmsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Lundberg Family Farms official websitelundberg.com