Barry Brand

Barry Brand is the founder, president, and CEO of Brand Farms LLC. He is a horticulturist entrepreneur and an eighth generation Dutch farmer. Brand moved to the USA in 1984, where he and his brother, Hans, began growing snapdragons and launched their own business: B&H Flowers. They later split the venture when they moved to Carpinteria, CA.

Barry started Brand Flowers Inc. and began growing Lilies in coco peat, along with a variety of cut flowers including tulips, gerbera, iris, gladiolus, delphinium, and sunflowers. In the beginning, he sold to wholesale clients all over the USA and some in Hong Kong, later adding supermarket chains such as Kroger, Albertsons, Whole Food, and Trader Joes. Around 1998, when internet sales started, Barry worked with Proflowers to ship the first overnight deliveries to end-users through their system. The first year, it was only by fax and handwritten labels and cards; in the following years, it all became computerized with the help of the Internet. Other clients followed, including 1-800 Flowers and Martha Stewart. In the early 2000s, Brand Flowers Inc. was the largest FedEx shipper one holiday with twenty-six truck and trailers lined up to ship the holiday gifts.

In 2021, Brand Farms is focused on growing Hass avocados and the GEM variety, which allows more trees to the acre and is much easier to harvest with their maximum height of 15 ft. To have good fruit setting, you need bees; this is the latest activity Barry started, with his 13 year old son Charlie. They have their own beehives and tend to the bees together in the avocado orchards.