April 3, 2025

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Wish Farms, based in Plant City, Florida, is an international berry grower, shipper and marketer, with its fourth generation actively engaged in its everyday operations.

The multi-generational family business traces its roots to 1922. Founded by Harris Wishnatzki and Daniel Nathel — two pushcart vendors from New York City — the company initially operated as Wishnatzki & Nathel, a brokerage specializing in wholesale fruits and vegetables. 

“When my dad Gary joined in 1974, he took more of a leadership role, and 1987 is when we got into farming ourselves,” said Nick Wishnatzki, who serves as public relations director for the company. 

In 2001, the Wishnatzki & Nathel families split, with the Nathel family taking the New York wholesale business and the Wishnatzkis taking the Florida growing and marketing company. Around that time, branding was becoming bigger in produce. The Wishnatzki name was well-known to retail customers, but not with consumers. 

In 2009, the Wishnatzkis explored changing its name to a more consumer-friendly brand. The company also developed its own mascot: Misty the Garden Pixie, who is on the logo and is the inspiration behind all of Wish Farms’ branding decisions. 

Berry Evolution

Although it was growing other commodities at the time, including vegetables, Wish Farms made the decision in 2017 to focus only on berries, becoming a year-round supplier to build better programs with retail customers. Wish Farms offers all the major berries, with the addition of Pink-A-Boo pineberries in 2021. 

“We’re very invested in our brand and as well as genetic programs to find really great-tasting berries that are also really good for farmers as well,” Wishnatzki said. 

One of the biggest challenges with growing strawberries in Florida is pestalotiopsis, a type of fungus that attacks the plant.

“It’s been really rampant the last couple of seasons and really affected yields in the Florida industry,” Wishnatzki said. “We’re trying to find some mitigating strategies like planting varieties that are a little more resistant and doing other things at the farm level to contain the disease. However, the long-term strategy is to breed our way out of pestalotiopsis.” 

Going Organic

In 1987, Wish Farms began growing strawberries and entered the organic sector in 2003.

Despite a tremendous demand for organic Florida strawberries, there wasn’t any matching commercial production, Wishnatzki said. Wish Farms tried growing in a greenhouse before moving production outside. 

While organic is not a big part of the overall volume (under 10%), Wishnatzki noted it’s an important component. 

“Consumers like to have a choice, but organics can be tricky from a growing perspective,” he said. “It’s become economically difficult to grow them in Florida. It’s two to three times the cost and you get half the yield, but we’re committed to providing organic berries as much as we can for our customers and consumers.”

In 2025, Wish Farms’ organic portfolio includes strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries (the latter two sourced from California and Mexico), all certified organic by the USDA National Organic Program and Americert International.  

Postharvest Procedures

Wish Farms’ portfolio is 55% strawberries (shipping more than 100 million pounds a year) and 35% blueberries, with the rest split between pineberries, blackberries and raspberries. 

All berries are handpicked and harvested at their peak to guarantee freshness and flavor. During the season, strawberry plants are harvested approximately every three days. The strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are picked and packaged in the field, where they undergo quality checks and scans at quality control stations. 

After inspection, the fruit is transported to a cooler for precooling at 34° F. Blueberries are also handpicked into lugs before being sorted and packed using a specialized packing line.

“Blueberries are packed in bulk by machine and we are able to utilize some different pack designs; top-seal packages have become really popular,” Wishnatzki said.

Innovative Minds 

Wish Farms uses a lot of technology, including GPS mapping and automated systems that can be turned on with the tap of the phone, such as water or fertilizer. 

“We’re really honed in on data and what is going into the crop and what needs to be done to make it successful,” Wishnatzki said. 

In recent years, Wish Farms has put great effort in traceability, which is required at the box level, but is attempting to go a step further to ensure unit-level traceability.

 “That affords us the ability to connect the grower with the consumer and see the different feedback we are getting,” Wishnatzki said. “We are still working on getting that up 100%, but that’s one initiative we have been focused on dialing in, as we believe it to be very valuable to all stakeholders.” 

Another important initiative deals with genetics, which Wishnatzki feels is one of the most important things for the industry.

“Yields are so important when it comes to being more efficient with cost, so we are looking at all of our options with regards to genetics,” he said. “Finding berries that consumers love to eat is a top consideration, but it has to yield for the farmer. There are some promising varieties on the horizon that could thread the needle. That’s going to help our company continue to evolve and be more sustainable over time.” 

Wish Farms has also made large investments in automation.

“There’s no secret: There’s a challenging labor issue with specialty crops, especially berries,” Wishnatzki said. “You need skilled workers who can do a job that is very labor intensive. Demographically, the world is changing and there are going to be fewer and fewer people to do these jobs. My dad foresaw that the only way to solve it long-term is with automation. 

“He founded Harvest CROO Robotics over 11 years ago with a mission to achieve an automated harvesting solution for strawberries. We are hopeful that success is just around the corner. They have multiple patents and it employs some amazing technology. I think there’s an incredible opportunity on the horizon.”   

Sustainable Mindset

Wishnatzki feels a company can’t possess environmental sustainability without economic sustainability, and for farmers, that equation has become tougher. 

“Being an organic grower, we’ve learned techniques over the years that limit pesticide usage and fertilizer usage, and releasing predator bugs, and I think Wish Farms is doing a lot to limit our footprint in many ways,” he said.

The company has looked to reduce its plastic packaging footprint, though options are limited. 

“We are committed to finding a good solution on that front, and have made progress to reduce plastic,” Wishnatzki said. “However, we’re not going to switch to something that’s not economically viable or that increases our carbon footprint, simply for the optics. We want to do the right thing for our growers and the environment.” 

Continued Success

Through the years, Wish Farms has established great bonds with customers and growers, and continues to be a major player in berries. 

“We have relationships dating back to my grandfather and great-grandfather in the Central Florida area,” Wishnatzki said. “A lot of our relationships are handshake deals that go back decades, and I think that says a lot about how we operate.” 

Looking ahead, the Wishnatzki family will continue to build on the legacy that Harris Wishnatzki established.

“It’s really an honor to be part of this organization and see how far we’ve come,” Wishnatzki said. “Everyone in the family works together really well, and we see the importance of what we’re doing as a company and as a family. It gives me a lot of hope for the future.”

— A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com