The surfside of Ciderville is feeling a tremor.
For years, Cider Chat listeners have traveled with Ria to California’s Central Coast through conversations with cider makers, orchardists, and apple growers whose roots run deep in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley.
Cider Chat podcast guests Jake Mann of Five Mile Orchard, Robby Honday of Tanuki Cider, Nicole Todd of Santa Cruz Cider Company, and even John Martinelli himself have helped tell the story of a region where apples are more than a crop. They are part of the landscape, the culture, and the identity of California’s cider coast.
That is why recent reporting out of Watsonville feels significant.
According to Lookout Santa Cruz, S. Martinelli & Co. has informed several growers that it will not continue renewing certain contracts in the years ahead, leaving some multigenerational orchard families uncertain about the future of their farms.
For many growers, Martinelli’s was not simply a customer. It was the customer.
The relationship stretches back generations. Families planted orchards knowing there would be a market for Newtown Pippins and other apples that became part of Martinelli’s iconic juice and cider blends. Entire farming operations were built around that understanding.
Now some of those orchards are coming out.
One of the growers featured in the report, fourth-generation farmer Peter Knego, has already begun removing trees planted by his family nearly a century ago. The land will transition to berry production, a move that reflects the difficult economics facing apple growers throughout the region.
What makes this story particularly important for Ciderville is that the Pajaro Valley is not just another agricultural district.
This is one of the historic apple regions of the American West.
It is where Newtown Pippins found a long home. It is where generations of Croatian immigrant families built orchards. It is where cider apples remained part of the agricultural landscape long after many regions shifted entirely toward fresh-market fruit. And today it is home to a vibrant community of modern cider makers who continue to draw inspiration from those orchards.
The concern is not simply about losing acreage.
When orchards disappear, so do pruning skills, harvest crews, equipment networks, local growing knowledge, and the relationships that hold an agricultural community together. Once those systems vanish, rebuilding them becomes extraordinarily difficult.
The reality is that cider begins long before fermentation.
It begins with growers willing to plant trees knowing they may not see a full return for years. It begins with families who steward land across generations. It begins with regions willing to maintain orchards even when other crops may offer faster profits.
The question now facing Watsonville is whether enough of that orchard ecosystem can survive this transition.
Because once an orchard comes out, it is rarely planted again.
A Tip of the Glass
A tip of the glass to the orchard families of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley whose work has shaped the surfside of Ciderville for generations.
Their story reminds us that every cider region depends on something deeper than markets.
It depends on growers who choose, year after year, to keep planting trees.
Further Reading: Lookout Santa Cruz journalist Lily Belli recently reported on the challenges facing Watsonville apple growers and the changing relationship with Martinelli’s. Readers can explore the original reporting for additional details and interviews.
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