About Us

So Who Are We, And How Did We Get Here?

Farmer's Harvest was an idea tossed around by two good friends who met over 15 years ago while hitting home runs off of each other in little league. After graduating College, one of us went in one direction spending endless hours behind a desk crunching numbers in public accounting while the other headed in a different direction to make a name for himself in the produce world. For years, there were talks of one day going in to business together and finally, the work experience we'd acquired and our desire to bring something great to our community started to materialize into what we decided to call Farmer's Harvest. We've added to our family along the way, so read on to get to know us better...

Joel Barker, The Produce Expert and CEO

Joel Graduated from the University of Idaho, where he played Division 1 football as a Center for the Vandals. He has been working in the produce industry since he was 16 years old. After starting his career at a local farmer's market stocking displays, he later went on to become the Director of Purchasing at one of the largest produce companies in Southern California. While there, he supplied countless local high-end restaurants with top quality produce. There is a good chance, if you've lived in Southern California over the past 15 years, you've probably had a piece or two of Joel's produce.

Joel's role at Farmer's Harvest will be to leverage his trusted and established relationships with the top quality growers and distributors in the produce industry so that he can bring you the best of the best. His industry knowledge and connections, combined with his retail know-how and flexibility to make quick adjustments to meet customers demands, promises to give our customers an excellent selection to choose from. Add to it that he's a laid back guy who's main objective is to make himself visible and available for his customers, and we're sure you'll enjoy catching up with him from time to time - either in the tasting area or because you're asking him to look into your favorite hard-to-find item.

I have dreamed about owning my own store since I started in retail at the age of 16 - I love interacting with people in a high energy environment. With the sales floor as my office - full of exciting items that are ever-changing and full of life - I couldn't be more happy with my choice to get back to my roots, which is exactly what I can't wait to do. Come in and see me and be sure to let me know what you think.
- Joel Barker, The Produce Expert and CEO

Joe Rovirosa, The Big Picture Guy

Our Big Picture Guy - President and CFO - graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a B.S. in Accounting. Throughout his corporate career, he was always open to the idea of going into business for himself. While in Public Accounting and as an Executive Recruiter, he saw a lot of different business models inside and out but nothing really caught his attention until he sat down with his long time friend, Joel. They started discussing the gap between quality produce, reasonable prices, and unbeatable service. The wheels started turning, the excel sheets began to connect the dots, and a viable business model was formed. Joe began to source funding, created banking relationships, and put the vision into words and numbers. Just like that the Farmer's Harvest venture was off the ground.

Joe will be integrally involved in the finance and accounting pieces of the business - he has a passion for finding and researching quality products, crunching the numbers, and finding the best way to make it happen. More importantly, he will be the guy you see in the store helping customers out - because that's just his way - it's part of his social and friendly nature. Another thing about Joe, he loves finding deals and he loves sharing them with people. This is our store's concept in a nutshell. When you come in, ask for Joe, he'll be sure to show you some of his favorite deals.

I've have always enjoyed two things - getting friends and family together, and learning about different businesses from an operational and financial perspective. I'm very excited about this concept because I get to combine both of these things. My goal with Farmer's Harvest is to provide an unbelievable value by offering quality products at an excellent price, while never letting our exceptional service slip away. I want our customers to say great things about our products, service, and the relationships they have built with the staff at Farmer's Harvest.
- Joe Rovirosa, Big Picture Guy, President, and CFO