Two Brothers-in-Law Started a Small Strawberry Farm in 1904. It Now Supplies a Third of the World’s Berries.

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In 1904, two brothers-in-law named Ed Reiter and Dick Driscoll started growing strawberries on a small farm in Watsonville, California. Today their company controls roughly a third of the U.S. berry market and supplies grocery stores in more than 20 countries, according to the New York Times.

The secret isn’t more farms. It’s genetics. Driscoll’s develops proprietary berry varieties in its own research labs and licenses them exclusively to about 900 independent growers worldwide. The farmers do the work, and Driscoll’s collects a royalty.

The strategy has reshaped global agriculture. Berries are now Mexico’s most lucrative agricultural export, surpassing avocados, beer and tequila. When Erewhon launched its wildly popular Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie in 2024, made exclusively with Driscoll’s organic berries, even the produce world took notice.

Not everyone is a fan. Critics say Driscoll’s model has quietly shifted agriculture away from the kind of open-source knowledge that universities once shared freely — toward genetics that are locked up tight and available only to growers who sign with Driscoll’s.