Quick Take

In this week's Santa Cruz County business roundup, Jessica M. Pasko traces the history of Watsonville's Sambrailo Packaging, has word of another delay for commercial crabbers and charts comings and goings in local biz.

As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects on economies everywhere, we’ll be taking a closer look at the movers and shakers, the growth of industries, and what’s really driving the Santa Cruz County economy. I’ll be spotlighting some of the biggest areas for opportunity, updates on local development and all things underpinning the regional business scene, each Wednesday.

Got ideas? Send them my way to news@lookoutlocal.com with “Business News” in the subject line.

A century of Sambrailo packaging: How a Watsonville-based company continues to succeed and grow

Not only is there a good chance that the strawberries you bought recently were grown locally, there’s also a high likelihood that the plastic clamshell they came packaged in was created locally too.

Kiersten Sambrailo Clontz’s great-grandfather Charles Sambrailo began providing Pajaro Valley apple growers with hand-nailed wooden crates back in 1923. Now, as Sambrailo Packaging marks its 100th year of operation, the bulk of its business is berries. It continues to be family-run, with Clontz’s father (and Charles’ grandson), Mark Sambrailo, at the helm as CEO and president. His brother and son also work for the company, making Clontz and her brother the fourth generation of Sambrailos to work for the family business. 

From left: Erik Sambrailo, Kiersten Sambrailo Clontz, her son Porter Clontz, employee Bruno Garcia and CEO Mark Sambrailo at the company's Family Day Picnic in October.
From left: Erik Sambrailo, Kiersten Sambrailo Clontz, her son Porter Clontz, employee Bruno Garcia and CEO Mark Sambrailo at the company’s Family Day Picnic in October. Credit: Sambrailo Packaging

Today, the company works with some of the biggest berry growers in the world and represents a big chunk of the berry packaging market in California. The company ships as many as 80 million berry trays (each containing eight clamshells) a year within California alone, according to marketing manager Sara Lozano. While berries represent about 80% of the business, the company has also expanded into new areas like packaging for mushrooms and row crops like lettuce, along with other vegetables. 

In the late 1980s, Clontz’s grandfather Bill Sambrailo introduced the industry’s first plastic clamshell. According to family lore, he was inspired in part after seeing plastic sandwich packages on an airplane, according to Clontz. And more recently, in 2017, the company launched ReadyCycle, a line of 100% recyclable, compostable, single-use packaging as an alternative to plastic that is made from paperboard and printed with vegetable-based inks.

Offering more sustainable options like this is a big focus for the company, said Clontz. 

As Sambrailo looks to move away from so much plastic, it is faced with a continued balance between considering what’s best for protecting the fruit and what can be done to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Read more here.

ICYMI: California Dungeness crab season delayed for third time

State officials have delayed the start of commercial Dungeness crab season for a third time. 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced late last week that the commercial crab fishery would remain delayed due to high numbers of humpback whales and a recent confirmed entanglement of a leatherback sea turtle. 

The next evaluation is set for Dec. 21.

The delayed season has been a blow to the local fishing industry, which is also reeling from the cancellation of this year’s salmon season. Read more from Lily Belli here.

Ch-ch-changes: Openings, closings and other developments

  • Club Pilates opens downtown: The Santa Cruz location of Club Pilates officially opened this week on Center Street. Club Pilates is part of Xponential Fitness, a large global franchise group of boutique fitness brands founded in 2017.
  • Santa Cruz Shakespeare names new managing director: The theater company has hired Lorne Dechtenberg to step into the role of managing director. He brings more than 15 years of arts management experience, including a recent stint as executive and artistic director of Bluegrass Opera & Music Theatre in Kentucky.

Got hires, promotions or departures to report? Send them to news@lookoutlocal.com with the subject line “Career changes.”

Looking at the numbers

  • 258: That’s the number of children of farmworker families that Watsonville Community Hospital planned to give holiday gifts to this week. The hospital’s staff and physicians raised more than $12,000 to buy gifts to be distributed by Santa, in conjunction with the Center for Farmworker Families.
  • $875: That’s the average amount American consumers expect to spend on holiday decor, food and gifts this year – with an expected $620 going toward gifts, according to the National Retail Federation.

Save the date

  • Jan. 19: CruzHacks marks its 10th anniversary next month. The three-day hackathon at UC Santa Cruz will bring together more than 400 high school and college students to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges in four categories: health, sustainability, justice and education. Organizers are still seeking judges, too. More info here.

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Jessica M. Pasko has been writing professionally for almost two decades. She cut her teeth in journalism as a reporter for the Associated Press in her native Albany, New York, where she covered everything...