Provenance · The whole story

A maison built on what others leave behind.

Forty percent of fruit grown in the United States never reaches a table. We buy a fraction of it, dry it slowly, and put it on a back bar.

— The Ledger, year two —

Counted in pounds and miles.

14,200lb
Fruit rescued
From compost heaps across South Texas.
1,580lb
Dried & tinned
A nine-to-one fresh-to-dried ratio.
214mi
Avg miles to source
From orchard to drying room.
7
Partner growers
Paid above market for "seconds."
— The Method —

Four steps, fourteen hours.

I.

Source

We buy the fruit other markets reject — cosmetic seconds, light bruising, irregular sizing — from seven Texas growers.

II.

Slice

Every wheel is hand-cut to 3 millimeters. Uneven thickness is the leading cause of cloudy garnish.

III.

Dry

Fourteen hours at 135°F. Low and patient is how the color and the pectin both survive.

IV.

Tin

Sealed in recyclable kraft tins with food-safe parchment. Shelf-stable, ninety days, no fridge.

— The House Pledge —

What we won't do, and what we always will.

Six standing rules. Posted in the drying room, written into every grower contract.

I
No sugars, no sulphites, no preservatives.
Only the fruit, dried. Nothing else makes it into the tin.
II
Always pay above market for "seconds."
Cosmetic imperfection is paid like any other harvest.
III
Source within two hundred fifty miles.
When we can't, we wait for the season that lets us.
IV
Recyclable, low-ink packaging.
Kraft tins, parchment, one-color label. No plastic film.
V
Publish the ledger, every year.
Pounds rescued, miles travelled, growers paid. Posted in the Journal.
VI
Compost what doesn't make the cut.
Slices that fail QC return to the orchard as soil amendment.
— Partner Growers —

The orchards that trust us with their seconds.

— Mission, TX —

Sandoval Citrus

Orange · Lemon · Blood Orange

A fourth-generation Rio Grande citrus farm. Where the Fruit Work began, with a single crate of orchard seconds.

— Fredericksburg, TX —

Linden Orchards

Apple · Green Apple

Honeycrisp and granny smith from the Texas Hill Country. We buy their hail-bruised harvest at full price.

— Poteet, TX —

Field & Furrow

Strawberry

A small cooperative of three strawberry growers south of San Antonio. Field-ripe, sliced within twenty-four hours.

"A garnish should taste like the place it came from. Less waste is the beginning, not the boast."

— posted on the drying-room door
See the Fruit →