Thirty five years after Gilroy’s garlicky extravaganza officially kicked off for the first time, one name – at least in these vampire-free parts – has grown to become synonymous with the aromatic herb and the world renown festival it inspired.
The name? Christopher.
The Christopher family’s deep-rooted relationship with garlic transformed their farm from a 130-acre operation in 1956 to the 4,000-acre garlic-producing giant it is today.
Nearly 60 years and three generations later, family values are still at the company’s core.
Located less than a mile off U.S. 101 and the Highway State Route 25 interchange, Christopher Ranch annually produces 60 million pounds of fresh Monviso heirloom garlic, one of the world’s most sought-after varietals of the pungent bulb.
The farm’s founder and patriarch, 78-year-old Don Christopher – a respected community figure whose decades of philanthropic generosity has deeply impacted the local school system and numerous nonprofits – was raised on a Santa Clara Valley prune farm that his grandfather, Ole Christopher started after he emigrated from Denmark in the 1880s.
But thankfully for Gilroy – which has a much nicer alliterative ring when paired with “garlic” instead of “prunes” – Don was plumb tired of dried plumbs.
“I really hated growing prunes,” he quipped in a 1995 interview featured in Smithsonian magazine.
The future garlic guru set his sights on the stinking rose, and that was the beginning of a family garlic dynasty.
Working with his older brother Art Christopher, Don moved to Gilroy to start his humble garlic farm, which scraped by for several years until he started in-house packaging and selling. That marked a turning point.
“Packing and selling is where the money is at,” said 57-year-old Bill Christopher, Don’s son and managing partner of Christopher Ranch. “He did his own packing and selling and took a lot of risk in what he did.”
Despite raking in a larger profit from his expanded operations, the business market for the stinking rose still had a lot of growing to do.
The turning point for Christopher Ranch and its place in garlicky hierarchy came in 1979, when Don teamed up with the late Rudy Melone, then Gavilan College President, to form the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
“The Garlic Festival put garlic on the map. People were surprised how much they enjoyed eating garlic. It was good for Gilroy and garlic in itself,” Bill Christopher said.
According to the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, in that first year, 15,000 people flocked to the festival – three times as many as expected.
Now approaching four million visitors across 35 years, the festival has blossomed into an epicurean paradise and is a testament to the nation’s garlic-whetted appetites.
But in the same way the festival fosters a sense of family and community thanks to its nonprofit volunteer workforce, the Christophers – whose ranch employees 500 full-time employees, plus a seasonal harvesting crew of 1,200 – say being family-run is still essential.
Having taken over the farm’s helm in recent years, Bill said his father is still very involved in the ranch.
“He didn’t want to retire because he loved the business,” Bill said. “It is important to have a family-run business and having his grandsons here is important.”
Bill’s roots in the garlic industry date back to working at the ranch during his childhood summers.
“I grew up around the garlic fields every summer. I started picking garlic in the fields and eventually started leading teams and having more and more responsibilities,” Bill said. “I enjoyed the decision making process and seeing how I was contributing to the company and making it grow, which is why after I went to college I came back here.”
Several members of the Christopher family are involved in day-to-day operations at Christopher Ranch, including two of Don’s five grandsons. This includes Bill’s nephew Jason Christopher, 27; and son Ken Christopher, 28.
“(Being family-run) is part of our legacy and our community’s legacy,” said Ken, who started in garlic production and has moved toward sales, marketing and management. “To learn from my father and grandfather and be the third generation is something to be proud of.”
During his teen years at Stevenson School in Pebble Beach and later as a college student at the University of San Diego, Ken observed his father as he stepped into a leadership role with the company. His grandfather’s and father’s work ethic and vision inspired him, Ken said.
“It’s a rare privilege to have three generations working in one business,” he noted. “My grandpa still comes in for three or four hours a day. We go for a walk every day and check every production line and salesperson to make sure everything is in line with our family’s values.”
Unlike his cousin, Jason didn’t always want to work at the family farm. After attending Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill and graduating from Chapman University, he moved to Southern California to pursue a career producing films.
“I was in Los Angeles working in the film industry. There were things I liked but once I ‘made it’ I realized it wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted,” he recalled. “Growing up in a place like Gilroy, you assume this is the way to world is, but the rest of the world isn’t like this. Gilroy is a really special place.”
Learning how to grow garlic from the ground up, Jason said his experience learning how to refrigerate and store garlic – his main duties – has been very different from past jobs.
“The way the ranch runs is that everyone has their primary thing and you do more and more until you can’t do more,” he said. “I feel that here I can accomplish good things. It makes me feel better that I can help the company and the people who rely on this company.”
Jason admits: working for a family-run business is drastically different than working in the film industry. But it’s where he wants to be.
“Working for a studio you believe in the idea of the film, but I know if they didn’t treat me right I can go somewhere else,” he said. “With a family-run company, if you want to make something better, you can. You can try to make people’s lives better.”
