Over a half a century ago Bill Charbonneau, his wife and two sons moved to the Yakima Valley from southern California. He purchased a small apple processing plant on Produce Row in Selah, Washington, and set about developing a quality brand of apple juice. That move dramatically affected the entire apple industry.

Mr. Charbonneau held a contest among his employees to choose a brand name for his product, and the winning entry was "Tree Top." It was widely believed in those days that the very best quality fruit grew at the top of the trees. Consequently, the name "Tree Top" was befitting the quality juice Mr. Charbonneau planned to produce.

The original product line included three items of single strength apple juice and three sizes of apple cider.

Mr. Charbonneau's office was located right in the plant facility so he could personally oversee juice production. The apples were pressed and the juice stored in 5,000 gallon holding tanks. Every time a batch of apples was pressed, a sample was brought to Mr. Charbonneau to taste. If the juice did not meet his approval, the entire 5,000 gallon tank would be poured down the drain.

The company is dedicated to the tradition of "quality" established by Bill Charbonneau over 50 years ago. Tree Top's laboratories contain the most sophisticated equipment available for testing juice quality. Tree Top also has the only trained taste profile panel in the apple juice industry.

In 1950, Life Magazine showed a double page spread of 5,000 railway cars of Washington State fruit being dumped into the Columbia River because there was no processor to handle it. As late as 1960, many growers were paying to have their fruit dumped or buried in canyons and rivers of Washington State. The fortunate ones were selling their fruit for a shaky $5 a ton.

A handful of orchardists purchased Tree Top from Bill Charbonneau in 1960 and formed a grower-owned cooperative.

In 1963, Tree Top pioneered frozen apple juice concentrate, as the juice could be economically shipped to any market the company developed and could provide the consumer a considerable value. First, however, the company had to sell consumers on the idea of frozen apple juice, as well as sell them on the Tree Top Brand.

In 1968, Tree Top began not only to juice apples but also to slice them. With two plants now specializing in dried apple products, Tree Top has become the largest supplier of dried apple products in the world. Dried fruits are mainly for ingredient use, and Tree Top's dried and low moisture apples find their way into the nation's top brands of cereals, breakfast pastries, cake mixes, snacks, etc.

In 1970, Tree Top introduced its unfiltered apple juice in answer to the consumer demand for "natural" foods. Tree Top also began marketing frozen concentrated cider that year.

In 1976, Tree Top introduced Pear-Apple and Pear-Grape pure fruit blends to provide its members with an outlet for their processing pears. The Co-op continues to use pears in many of its juice blends. Tree Top succeeded in placing a sales value on processing pears, again creating a continued market value for its grower’s processor fruit.

Three Apple Blend was introduced to the market place in 1998 and has remained Tree Top’s premium juice offering since.

Tree Top Fresh Apple Slices® made their debut in 2001 and in 2006 a state-of-the-art processing facility was constructed on the Selah campus to handle the booming business of providing sliced apple snacks to the food service industry.

Since the late 1980s the Co-op acquired several other fruit-processors and brands such as Valley Evaporated Company, Sun Ridge Foods, Seneca Foods Prosser Plant and sauce label division, Watermill Foods, and most recently the Sabroso Company of Medford, Oregon.

These acquisitions allowed Tree Top the ability to offer the widest array of fruit-based products and ingredients to retail markets, the food service industry, and food manufacturers.

Tree Top now operates seven production plants strategically located near the fruit sources, with locations in Selah, Cashmere, Wenatchee, and Prosser, Washington, and Medford and Woodburn, Oregon as well as one in Oxnard, California.

Our little co-op has grown considerably since 1960 thanks largely to the small town values and work ethics of our growers and employees that have been a part of our culture since the beginning. We are pleased to now be recognized as a pacesetter in the fruit-processing industry and a premium brand that offers value to our customers. We thank you for your continued patronage and support.

Tree Top celebrated its 50th Birthday in 2010.

1960	Established as a cooperative, with first year sales of $1.7 million.
1963	First company ever to produce and market frozen concentrate apple juice.
1968	Expanded into the ingredient business with dried apples at the Wenatchee Plant.
1975	Wenatchee Plant rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire.
1976	Introduced pear-apple and pear-grape juice blends.
1980	Cashmere Plant expansion and Mount St. Helens’ eruption.
1983	Large conglomerates enter the apple juice market to compete for profits.
1984	Sales for fiscal year hit $225.4 million.
1985	New cooperative equity structure adopted. Apple fiber introduced. Construction of a new Research and Development Center completed.
1986	Alar receives national media attention.
1987	Acquired Valley Evaporated Company, Inc. Logo design changed and Tree Top’s marching letters are retired.
1988	Began co-packing for Japan. U.S. Grape is purchased by Tree Top.
1994	Tree Top began plastic packaging in gallon size juice containers.
1995	Partnered with The Plumlife Co. to produce a fat replacer, JLS. Purchased plant in Rialto, CA. and closed a leased facility in Commerce, CA. Purchased Sun Ridge Foods of Sunnyside, WA.
1996	Tree Top restructured into separate divisions to address unique marketplace needs of Ingredient, Foodservice, and Consumer Packaged Goods. Tree Top awarded contract to supply juice for the California W.I.C. program.
1998	Three Apple Blend introduced in the Pacific Northwest. Apple sauce packaged in plastic containers.
1999	Purchased Seneca Foods Prosser Plant and sauce label. Acquired Watermill Foods in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Acquired Vacu-Dry trademark and apple-based industrial ingredients business.
2000	Tree Top shares in California WIC business under new state program Selah Plant converted to bulk receiving program.
2001	Tree Top Fresh Apple Slices® debut.
2002	Consolidation of large retail grocery chains and increased emphasis on “private label” challenged retail juice sales status quo. Tree Top recognized as major U.S. producer of apple concentrate.
2003	Tree Top Flat Fruit® introduced.
2004	Tree Top leads in frozen, dark sweet cherries used as ingredients in yogurts and other products. Ochango (orange, cherry, mango) juice and a blueberry-blackberry blend were added as premium retail offerings. Spiced apple cider was launched with 100% juice blended with spices for a holiday favorite.
2006	New Fresh Slice plant opens on Tree Top’s Selah Campus to allow for growing healthy snack demand. Fresh slice production is shifted from its Milton-Freewater, Oregon plant.
2007	Tree Top receives special recognition award presented by Pacific Power for the Co-op’s industry leadership in energy efficiency.
2008	Cashmere processing facility closed due to unprofitable market for apple juice concentrate-- the plant’s primary capability. Chinese concentrate saturates markets and prices remain too low to compete. trim® launched as Tree Top’s first functional beverage, to help with weight management. Purchased Sabroso Company of Medford, Oregon with additional plants in Woodburn, Oregon, and Oxnard California. Company purchased to expand Tree Top’s fruit-based product offerings to offer largest variety available through any single supplier. Sabroso Company world renowned for purees and nectars, and soft fruits and berries.
2009	Rialto California Plant closed due to significant decline in client bottling needs and underutilized plant capacity. New grower-owner contracts set the amount of tons of apples and pears to be delivered and accepted, equal to the market rights owned by the grower.
2010	Tree Top celebrates 50th Anniversary!