Bear Mountain Celebrates 75 Years

Posted by Christina Herrick|March 27, 2012

For 75 years, Bear Mountain Orchards, Inc. has been growing, packing, and shipping fruit from their family farm located in Aspers, PA. The Lott family has turned a 118-acre farm with barn animals and a few fruit trees into a booming 1,000-acre fruit business. With everything from cherries, apricots, peaches, apples, plums, and pears, Bear Mountain Orchards has developed a reputation for growing niche variety fruits with big flavor.

“As we look back to recognize the achievements and advancements that have brought us this far, we continue to look forward,” says John Lott, President of Bear Mountain Orchards. “Our business continues to expand, and consumer demand continues to grow.”

The most recent expansions have brought the purchase of a new farm, a computerized high-speed packing line, and the grand opening of their Bream & Bear cold storage facility. Bear Mountain is also taking time to rethink their marketing approach, given the increasing popularity of the local foods movement among consumers.

“We are happy to see the current local foods trend in the marketplace. The value in the direct relationship between grower and customer is growing, and that’s exactly what we have been doing for 75 years,” says Sheila Gantz, Vice-President of Bear Mountains Orchards. Bear Mountain is currently reaching out to the local community and looking to partner with larger institutions such as schools, hospitals, and universities.

Bear Mountain Orchards was founded in 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression when times were tough and the economy was struggling. Located in the fruit belt region along South Mountain, founders Bob and Mary Lott knew from the start the land would grow exceptional fruit. As society grew out of the Great Depression and turned focus to World War II, the country began to rely more on purchasing their food than growing for themselves. As a result the first packinghouse was built in 1946 to pack and ship fruit to customers along the East Coast. Today, Bear Mountain owns 1,000 acres of fruit trees, packs 500,000 bushels of fruit annually, and co-manages Bream & Bear, a 300,000 bushel cold-storage facility.