Taking Root: ORCHARD At The OFFICE grows

ORCHARD At The OFFICE stemmed from a simple idea: delivering fresh fruit to offices throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. In their pioneering days, this necessitated Chief Banana Kevin Long and his partner Dennis McCart rising at hours that would make a bat groggy as they hit the farmers’ markets as early as possible to prepare baskets for their friends. With the assistance of a small team of delivery drivers, ORCHARD At The OFFICE soon grew to the point where they could assert themselves as “north Texas’ largest office fresh fruit delivery service”.

In March of 2012, tragedy struck as “Uncle Denny” passed away from a sudden myocardial infarction. His loss, and legacy, are still felt in the company today, as both bolstered Long’s conviction that the mission of “healthy snack alternatives” is indeed vital to society’s well-being.

"Uncle Denny" left an enduring legacy with our company and community.
“Uncle Denny” left an enduring legacy with our company and community.

Under these difficult circumstances, it became necessary to employ additional staff to fill Uncle Denny’s considerably sizable (and always stylish) shoes. One friend of Denny, Ali Sheikh, approached the Long family immediately offering to do anything he could to help. He is now the longest-tenured staff member and his contributions at so crucial a moment will always be valued.

From here, the Long family reached out to other friends. It is at this point that I cease to speak in the third person, and “they” becomes “we”. I, the Marketing Wiseapple, joined the ORCHARD At The OFFICE family to help with deliveries and to champion the cause of healthy snacking in all available media, a role for which I am ideally suited as I am both gregarious in personality and ridiculously obdurate in temperament. I only include this autobiographical information to say that each member of our team is indeed unique, not just in respect to our workplace, but indeed within our community. We are proud of our staff because they are so much more than “good hands” – they are good people, (See future posts for more on each team member.)

Getting started on a Monday morning in the Metroplex.
Ali (a.k.a. Junior) getting started on a Monday morning in the Metroplex.

By May of 2015 we had expanded into Dallas, Fort Worth, and every suburb major and minor. Vans loaded with goodness depart each weekday ready to bring the freshest produce available to our smiling friends strewn hither and yon through our sprawling Metroplex. This necessitated a relocation, and after a great deal of searching, we found a new home…just two doors down from where we were! This story will be told in our next installment…

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