Fruit Bowl celebrates 70 years
The Fruit Bowl sits on Waterloo Road in North Stockton, nestled among orchards of cherries and peaches. Since 1947 — 70 years ago — the Lucchetti family has supplied locals and travelers alike with fresh local produce, nuts and baked goods, including pies made from scratch using their own produce whenever possible.
Ralph Lucchetti, son of founders Frank and Ida, owns and operates the market where he grew up, along with his wife, Denene.
“I didn’t really take over. I’ve been here my whole life,” he said.
Frank, who passed away in 2004, and Ida, who passed in 2011, first began growing and selling fruit in 1947, starting with nothing more than a table on the side of the road. They sold peaches from an orchard they had rented after their first house burned down in 1945, and took the market’s name from a bowl of peach slices that Ida would set out every day for samples.
“Out of adversity, good things can come,” Ralph said. “They put a little table on the side of the road, and our family has been successful ever since.”
Since then, their orchards have grown to include 65 different varieties of peaches, along with plums, nectarines and cherries. They also sell a few hybrid fruits, grown by local nurseries, such as peacotums, a cross between peaches, apricots and plums, as well as pluots — more plum than apricot — and apriums — the pluot’s apricot-heavy cousin.
They harvest the fruit daily, only picking as much as Ralph thinks they can sell that day. If they run out early, he said, Denene can always send him out for more.
Theirs is not an organic farm, although Ralph said they try to use as few chemicals as possible. It takes three years to become certified as organic, he explained, and that even one instance of using chemical pesticides is enough to prevent them from achieving that label.
They are one of the first growers in the area to use bio-lures, which are tied to each tree to disrupt the mating cycles of harmful pests.
“Every day there’s something new,” said Denene, who enjoys interacting with their customers as much as her husband.
Many of their customers are the second or third generation to visit the Fruit Bowl, having come to the store nearly every summer with their parents or grandparents. Many of them live in the Bay Area, stopping by the market on their way to summer homes in Lake Tahoe.
A good number of the Fruit Bowl’s employees are second generation as well, keeping with the store’s family first philosophy.
“No two days are alike. Some days, everything runs smoothly, and sometimes things break and need to be fixed. You never know what to expect, but we try to have fun every day,” Ralph said.
They’ve expanded as much as they feel is necessary, Denene said, although Ralph added that they’re always on the lookout for new ideas.
The market is open from April until December. The Lucchettis use the winter months to travel to Utah and Arizona in search of unique products for their store and innovative sandwich and pie recipes for their bakery. One of their more recent trips to Utah yielded facial mask scrubs and other products made from the Beehive State’s clay.
The store also carries local wine, mostly from smaller wineries that otherwise would not get as much exposure.
“I believe we need to help each other out,” Ralph said of his dedication to working with local farmers.
Besides wine, they also stock beans from a farmer down the road and free range eggs from Turner-Kelly Farms.
In the bake shop, open since 1998, customers can purchase freshly baked pies, panini sandwiches and quiches made from scratch, as well as gelato and sorbet from Berkeley. Deli meats, cheeses and mustards are also available, and the store imports sodas all the way from Italy, the family’s ancestral homeland.
The Stockton Bicycle Club held a celebratory ride on June 25 to commemorate the market’s 70th anniversary, and yoga instructor Teri La Rue will host a free class in their orchard on July 13 at 9 a.m., with a sampling of some of their summer fruit recipes.