Item Magazine

Monterra®…in the News

Item Magazine
Winter 2006

The Salad Days
From life on the farm to his own slice of paradise, Roger Mills' Journey started with family

Story by ANGELA FENSKE II Photography by SCOTT CAMPBELL


Lettuce start from the beginning.

It was June 1958 and a fresh-out-of-college Roger Mills had just joined his brother Basil's Salinas-based cauliflower marketing business, Mills Distributing Company. Mills was Basil's first employee, five years later he would be named executive vice president. While a young Mills may not have had the foresight to see it then, in the decades ahead, Mills Distributing Company would see two name changes (first to Mills Inc. in the early 1990s, then to its current Mills Family Farms in 2004), substantial growth and three generations (and counting) of Mills family employees, ultimately becoming one of the largest lettuce producers in the nation.

If mention of farm life conjures up images of a pitchfork-wielding Old MacDonald, think again. The farming industry is big business. From the early days of being a single-employee marketing operation nearly 50 years ago, Mills Family Farms is today a third generation growing, harvesting, processing and shipping company, distributing more than 10 million cartons of produce annually. The company, which once solely marketed cauliflower, now grows multiple kinds of lettuce and cabbage, bok choy, cilantro, broccoli, green onions, snow peas, celery, leeks, spinach, kale, endive, escarole, parsley and cauliflower on its more than 12,000 acres of farmland in California and Arizona.

"It's nice being in a business knowing you've helped your fellow human being," says Mills regarding the healthy product he provides. In comparison, "I would definitely have a problem producing cigarettes or something like that."

Mills stresses the care he and the rest of the Mills Family Farms employees put into making sure the food the company delivers to customers everyday is of the highest quality. "The farming business, since the time of the Revolutionary War, has constantly been improving its practices," he says. "We've always been very careful to make sure we have a healthy product. It's very sad with the recent scare," Mills acknowledges regarding the spinach contamination crisis which removed the leafy green from produce sections, menus and dinner tables earlier this fall, expressing what a shame it was "to take a healthy product off the market."

To help eliminate the possibility of food contamination at Mills Family Farms, all employees undergo ongoing safety training processes called Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), This kind of efficient attention to detail is just one of many reasons Mills Family Farms has had the long-lasting relationships it has within the agriculture industry.

Being that it is a family company, Mills Family Farms naturally brings a personal approach to the way it conducts business. This was a main reason the company's name was ultimately changed to what it is today. As Mills' nephew, Senior Vice President David Mills (son of Basil and brother of the company's other senior vice president, Jim Mills) explained to The Produce News in January 2004, "The new name lets the end-user know exactly what we are and what we do. We thought we'd tie it all together. We're proud of the family business and family home heritage."

"My brother and I have a deep love for each other and have since childhood," affirms Mills, adding, as anyone who has worked closely with a family member will confirm, "To work out differences, you have to make a conscious effort."

So where does the Mills family find balance between work life and family life? Located above the Monterey Peninsula, adjacent to the city of Monterey, lies Monterra. Like Mills Family Farms, this exclusive, 1,700-acre community has been a dream the Mills brothers created and saw come to fruition together.

If the Garden of Eden were located in the Monterey Peninsula (and came sprinkled with 3,500-plus-square-foot homes), it would look like Monterra. The natural landscaping, overseen by an architecture control committee, is surrounded by panoramic views of the Santa Lucia Mountains, Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay. Here, native plants thrive in the more than 280 days of sun each year and strict rules surround issues such as cutting down trees.

"It becomes very much a natural preserve," says Mills proudly. "It's a wonderful thing to have an enclave with such a peaceful lifestyle. "

After purchasing the property (which neighbors the Clint Eastwood owned community of Tehama) in 1996, the Mills brothers sold the first lot in 1999. Others soon followed. At the time of this interview, 83 of Monterra's 168, $1.5-$3 million lots were spoken for.

Understandably so-residents of Monterra will not only enjoy living amongst the community's natural beauty, but they will also receive first-class amenities such as a Tehama Golf Club Social Fitness Membership, granting them access to the Tehama Fitness Center as well as the Tehama Golf Clubhouse.

Wanting to share his success with others, Mills frequently uses his own 10,000-square-foot Monterra dream home away from home (he splits his time between Monterra and Salinas) to host fundraising events for local charities, namely The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County. Sitting Oil a 33acre lot, Mills' yard is large enough to accommodate 300-400 guests.

There's no denying Mills has his plate full. However, this seventy-something-year-old shows no signs of slowing down. Considering all his endeavors and the successes he's seen throughout the decades, Mills does not hesitate for a second when asked what he is most proud of in life: "Being the father of my daughter and grandfather of my grandchildren," he says matter-of-factly, as if there could be no other answer ... because for him, there really isn't.

Just like in the beginning, the core of Roger Mills' family businesses is the business of family.

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