Salida-based maker of nut harvesting machines will reach 570 employees with acquisition
Flory Industries, which makes nut harvesting equipment in Salida, is acquiring a Sacramento Valley company involved in various crops.
The purchase of Custom Orchard Equipment will mean no layoffs for the 570 or so employees of the combined businesses, Flory leaders said.
COE will be a subsidiary of Flory and retain its brand and headquarters in Live Oak, Sutter County, along with its dealer network around the world.
The deal will allow Flory to supplement its main clientele — almond and walnut growers — with pistachios, olives, citrus and other fruit.
The financial terms were not disclosed by the family-owned businesses.
“This is an opportunity for us to diversify into another nut category and also provides an opportunity for growth,” said Jason Flory, the third-generation chairman of the board.
He spoke during a Feb. 9 tour for The Modesto Bee of the 106-acre complex on Toomes Road. Workers were laser-cutting metal panels, assembling them into machines and painting them the trademark Flory red. The site also has service and parts departments.
The business has manufactured nut harvesters since 1961 on the site of founder Howard Flory’s one-time dairy farm.
COE started with prunes
The COE acronym is also the founding family’s name. Lyman and Lois Coe started off in 1970 with a machine for picking their own prune crop. They later moved into making machines for crops including peaches, cherries, apples, citrus, olives, walnuts and almonds.
“This is an exciting new chapter for my family and COE,” General Manager Matt Coe said in a news release. “There are many similarities between Flory and Coe, so to combine and leverage those strengths is going to be a tremendous benefit for our current and future customers.”
The thin-skinned fruits and olives require a type of harvester that keeps them off the ground. COE’s advances have reduced the need for hand-picking, though it is still widely done in California and elsewhere.
Nuts rain to ground
Nuts can survive falling to the ground and thus are more suited to mechanized harvesting.
It involves three main steps: A shaker grasps a limb and sends the nuts raining down. A second machine sweeps them into windrows to dry for a few days. A third loads the crop into trucks bound for processing plants.
Until now, Flory has sold equipment for only the second and third steps. The COE acquisition will allow it to offer shakers for nuts, olives and fruits.
Flory has been a pioneer in reducing harvest dust, which can pollute the air and even contribute to traffic accidents. The COE purchase could eventually result in machines that catch the nuts before they hit the ground, said Mike Eger, president and chief operating officer at Flory.
The Salida company also makes machinery that grinds up trees removed after their production declines. Tilling the chips into the soil is part of the state’s effort to capture the carbon involved with climate change.
Flory does most of its business in the Central Valley but also exports its machines to Mexico, Chile, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Portugal and France. The foreign buyers grow crops such as cashews, tung nuts, macadamias, almonds and walnuts.
COE has dealers in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria and Turkey.
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
