Wells Fargo 2015 Annual Report Download - page 15

2015 Annual Report| 
Fruits of family’s
labor: From seed
to sparkling success
John Martinelli
In 1859, Stephen G. Martinelli moved
from Switzerland to California’s fertile
Central Coast, where his brother had
started farming apples a few years
earlier. Because they didn’t have a way
to preserve apple juice, Stephen started
to experiment with hard apple cider
and developed an eervescent version.
Today, Stephen’s great-grandson,
John, runs S. Martinelli & Company,
a Wells Fargo customer best known
for Martinelli’s Gold Medal apple juice
and nonalcoholic sparkling ciders.
“My grandfather, Stephen G. Martinelli
Jr., also was a pioneer. A couple
years before Prohibition would have
rendered our primary product illegal,
he developed a pasteurization process
to preserve apple juice products,”
said John. “If it wasn’t for his work,
we wouldn’t have been able to transition
to a nonalcoholic sparkling cider,
which is now our No. 1 product.”
Wells Fargo has worked with
S. Martinelli & Company for more
than 100 years — from when it was
a small, regional producer to today
as a major national brand with export
markets in Mexico, South Korea,
Canada, Japan, and elsewhere.
“The Wells Fargo team has served
us really well — even internationally
— as we prepare to directly manage
potential currency risks,” said CFO
Gun Ruder.
John said, “Wells Fargo has helped
fund every one of our major projects,
including property purchases,
buildings, bottling equipment,
and apple presses, as well as
working capital needs.”
As S. Martinelli & Company
looks to vertically integrate and
expand its operations, Wells Fargo
has been a valuable consultant.
Relationship Manager Ryan
Pacheco said, “We’ve been talking
with Martinelli’s about agriculture
lending and lines of credit for
crops, which can be essential
as the company integrates its
growing operations to secure
its apple supply.”
Gun concluded, “Wells Fargo
is flexible and responsive and
has developed an excellent
understanding of our business.”
Learn more at wellsfargo.com/stories.
Gun Ruder, Ryan Pacheco,
and John Martinelli