Sixty Years of California Agriculture Leadership And Still Growing
For years, the Bacchetti and Colace families have been preserving the farming traditions of their ancestors. A brief look at our history reveals the way our families and traditions have influenced the way we do business.
Over 60 years ago, Bautista Bacchetti emigrated from Italy to America. Young and determined, he traveled to California, first landing in Eureka before settling in Tracy. Here he began living the American Dream and opened the Bacchetti Family Dairy, with his son Bert Bacchetti alongside him. Bert, being just as determined as his father, began toying with farming while helping with the dairy. He started in the early 1950s with 40 acres of land, growing and harvesting tomatoes, alfalfa, and grain.
In the mid 1950s, Bert married Gloria and together they began their family of 3, including daughters Gail, Pat, and son Mark. Just as Bert did with his father, Mark was often with Bert learning the family business. Starting at the age of 8, when not in school, Mark was out working on the farm.
As years went on, Bert became more successful with the farm and sold the dairy. By 1968, the 40 acres had grown to 500 and was incorporated as Bert Bacchetti Farms. Mark, still by his father’s side, joined full time in 1976. Over the next 20 years, together they brought the farm from 500 acres to 2000, farming asparagus, tomatoes, alfalfa, and grain.
In 1977, Mark married Mary, and like his mother, she settled into running the office and doing any job on the farm as was needed. They went on to have two children, Ryan and Alissa.
In 1996, Mark, displaying the same ambition his father and grandfather had, dreamed of his own farm. It was then that Marca Bella Farms was born. Together, Bert Bacchetti Farms and Marca Bella Farms built a state-of-the-art asparagus packing facility in Tracy, CA.
For the next three years, father and son continued working side by side until 1999 when the Bacchetti family suffered the loss of their father, Bert. From 1999 to 2002, Mark continued the family businesses and expanded, growing the 2,000 acres to 5,000. Being the visionary that he is, and adhering his father’s words of wisdom; “You must be honest, do your best, provide the best quality and always be progressive,” Mark saw the full potential of the packing facility he and his father had built just a few years prior, and began growing fresh sweet corn on the farm to pack there in 1998. As Mark’s innovative product began to gain traction in the marketplace, Mark and Mary realized that they had developed a concept that was going to be more popular than they had dreamed.
In 2001, Mark and Mary started Prima Bella Produce and created the “GloriAnn” label, named after Mark’s mother. The GloriAnn label served as the origin of the company’s tray pack corn. Their first order was simple: five boxes of the four pack, white GloriAnn corn, delivered in Mark’s pickup truck. And the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2010, Mark and Mary welcomed Bill and Joe Colace into the family. Like Mark, both brothers are also continuing the legacy that their grandfather and father started. Joe’s outstanding farming practices, extensive knowledge of the many different growing regions, and his strong grower base assure remarkable quality and integrity to our already select group of growers. Bill’s experience in sales and marketing has helped introduce the GloriAnn product line to an ever growing customer base and his sales and marketing team offer an extensive knowledge of the complex markets in the produce industry. Bill and Joe’s company, Five Crowns Marketing, is now handling all the sales for GloriAnn.
In 2012, the company underwent a name change to become GloriAnn Farms in an effort to more closely tie into the GloriAnn label used for the sweet corn tray packs. Under the new name, the Bacchetti and Colace families continue the legacy of quality produce backed by excellent customer service. GloriAnn Farms has earned its reputation in the fresh produce industry by living the original values brought with Mark’s grandfather from Italy: honesty, integrity, and bringing the very best from the farm to the table. This is what Mark, Mary, Bill, Joe, and all of GloriAnn Farms will continue doing for many generations to come.