http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/dec/22/treasure-coast-citrus-company-celebrating-95-of/
Treasure Coast citrus company celebrating 95 years of success
By Paul Ivice
Posted December 22, 2009 at 8:24 a.m.
FORT PIERCE When the roots of Bernard Egan & Co. were created in 1914, World War I broke out in Europe, Babe Ruth broke in with the Boston Red Sox and the Panama Canal broke through to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The city of Fort Pierce was a mere teenager. Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties werent even a gleam in the eye of their young father, St. Lucie County, which in 1905 was culled from Brevard County.
The company had humble beginnings as Egan, Fickett & Co., a New York-based fruit and vegetable distributor.
Before there were telephone sales, you had to sell the fruit where people lived and only farmers lived here (on the Treasure Coast), so the fruit was shipped to New York, Philadelphia and Boston, primarily from Jacksonville at that time, said Gregory Nelson, Bernard Egans youngest stepson, who became company president in 1993.
Now, celebrating its 95th birthday, Bernard Egan & Co. is in its third generation of family ownership and has grown into the largest marketer and shipper of fresh Florida citrus.
Nelsons brother-in-law, J.J. Gilet, is executive vice president for European sales and step-cousin Bob Egan is executive vice president for Far East sales.
The companys largest agricultural holding is Fellsmere Farms with 18,000 acres of farmland including 14,000 acres of citrus. It also owns 6,000 acres of groves in St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Martin counties, operates four packinghouses and markets fruit for six affiliate packers in Florida. In peak season, the company has more than 400 employees.
Three strategies keyed the companys remarkable growth and success.
First, Bernard Egan, youngest son of company founder Joseph Egan, recognized that the unique combination of rainfall, soil and temperature in the Indian River region produces grapefruit unmatched for quality and taste. Using the knowledge of European markets he gained while working in New York, Egan pioneered the marketing of Indian River grapefruit into Europe in the late 1960s, and then Japan a few years later.
Next, the company aggressively expanded its ownership of citrus groves in the Indian River area to meet the growing demand. Major plantings were made in Indian River and St. Lucie counties.
Then, in 1997, the company entered a strategic marketing alliance with Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., a farming cooperative that first came to Florida in the mid-1970s to process grapefruit juice at a Vero Beach plant, to become the exclusive distributor of fresh citrus under the Ocean Spray brand.
Its a great marriage. I thought it was brilliant, said Doug Bournique, executive vice president of the Indian River Citrus League since 1979. The success of that marriage helped hundreds of Indian River growers achieve a better return for their fruit.
In a typical year, the company distributes 2 million to 3 million cartons of citrus around the world under the Ocean Spray label, but they are also found in local grocery stores. Overall, the company handles about 12 million cartons of citrus, including about 3 million cartons imported from the Southern Hemisphere during Floridas off-season.
Besides his business acumen and drive, Bernard Egan had a calm determination and became known for his enthusiasm and optimism, not only about his product but about people, Nelson said.
When he believed in you, he believed in you and expected you to be the best you can be, Bournique said. He scrutinized everything I did from the League, which made me better.
Over its 95-year history, the company has endured the Depression, World War II, droughts, freezes in the 1980s, hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 and more recent battles with exotic citrus diseases such as canker and greening.
In each instance, company personnel have persevered with strength and enthusiasm, said Nelson, who was 10 when his mother married Egan.
We have a very experienced and professional workforce, many of which have been with the company for decades, Nelson said. The company is financially strong and we know there will have to be more investment by us and other growers to sustain citrus production in the state. Were prepared to make that investment once we see some progress in the scientific research into how best to manage the disease threats.
THE EGAN STORY
1914: Egan, Fickett & Co., a fruit and vegetable distributor, is founded in New York by Joseph Egan and friend Steve Fickett, who is bought out by the mid-1920s.
1932: Port opens in Fort Pierce, allowing the company to ship citrus and produce locally instead of from Jacksonville.
1936: Joseph Egan dies of a heart attack, leaving the company to his five sons and four daughters. Bernard Egan, the youngest child at 22, abandons studies at Fordham University in New York and goes to work helping his older brothers on the New York end of the business. Outliving his brothers, Bernard Egan takes control in the 1960s.
1968: Bernard Egan forms DNE World Fruit Sales as the companys marketing arm and pioneers European markets for fresh grapefruit.
1971: DNE opens Japanese markets for Indian River grapefruit exports, while continuing expansion of European markets. By the mid-70s, DNEs Far East sales surpass all other exports. Meanwhile, the company makes significant acquisitions of groves and packinghouses.
1972: Company headquarters is moved to Fort Pierce.
1989: Egan, Fickett & Co. is renamed Bernard Egan & Co.
1979: DNE receives E Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for excellence in exports.
1990: DNE is again recognized by the Commerce Department with its top award, the Presidential E Star.
1993: Bernard Egan becomes chairman and chief executive officer and his youngest stepson, Greg Nelson, becomes president.
1997: The company forms a strategic marketing alliance with Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., a farming cooperative, to become its exclusive distributor of fresh citrus under the Ocean Spray brand.
2002: Bernard Egan is inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame for lifelong commitment to the citrus industry.
2004: After 67 seasons working in the citrus industry, Bernard Egan dies one day after his 90th birthday.
Maria Aguilar packs grapefruit while working in the production area of the Bernard Egan & Co. packing
house Tuesday morning at the facility in Fort Pierce. The company celebrated 95 years of operation
in December.
Bernard Egan & Co. manager Wes Talbot, left, looks over two pieces of fruit as Florentino Mondono tells
him why the pieces were removed from a package during production Tuesday afternoon at the packing
house in Fort Pierce.
In the office of Bernard Egan & Co. manager Wes Talbot's office hangs a photo taken of Bernard Egan
being congratulated on the purchase of a piece of property in the port. From left are, Tommy Sloan,
Ernest Settle, Bernard Egan, James Sheehan, Marvin DeBolt and Richard Reid.
Joseph Egan
Bernard Egan & Co. President Greg Nelson is Bernard Egan's stepson. 
