Chino Farm's Lasting Success Is as Sweet as Their Strawberries

Every day during springtime, Tom Chino rolls up the giant metal doors of the garage and pulls out a squeaky metal cart carrying a large cardboard shipping box.

He pushes it a short distance down an uneven dirt path until he reaches a flagpole. He then carefully pulls out several pieces of colorful, billowy fabric that unfold into koi flags or “koinobori” in Japanese.

Chino says it’s an important expression of belonging.

It’s vital for my sense that, you know, that we belong on this piece of ground.

Tom Chino, owner of Chino Farm

“I enjoy doing it and it sometimes is maybe tedious or it's a strain on my work. But it’s vital for my sense that, you know, that we belong on this piece of ground and we do things that sort of represent (us) as a family,” says Chino.

The koi flags are a May tradition in Japan, where they are raised and flown to celebrate the country’s Children’s Day to wish boys and girls a bright future of hope and determination.  The familiar, decorative fish is known for its resilience.    And in so many ways, it’s also the same quality shared by the Chino family of the renowned Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe.

Tom Chino is the second generation of Chinos to run the farm and his commitment is obvious when he explains why he works every single day, including Christmas.

“I mean, it's important to me that the crops grow well and that they're always attended to,“ Chino explained.

It’s that endless commitment that’s the root of his farm's success, and why they can grow specialty crops like the delicate French Mara De Bois strawberries that Chino Farm is famous for.

Celebrated chefs from Wolfgang Puck to Alice Waters rave about these Chino gems.

Farm workers who’ve worked here 20 to 30 years are also key to the farm’s longevity. Chino said mutual respect is at the core of their loyalty. And again, it’s that commitment.

“It's not, it's not just the business, but I think I mean, I have an emotional attachment to it, but it's not necessarily considered love," Chino said. "I think it's like I want it to be successful. It's just a desire that it's successful and what we’re growing can be appreciated by the customer."

The desire was instilled in Tom Chino as a kid, the youngest of nine children and one of three surviving siblings who still run the farm. On any given day, you’ll find them in the field picking faba beans, cucumbers, strawberries.

“My parents raised me. I mean, I was raised on a farm, so I was working since 3 years old, was out in the field. I'm maybe 3 years old. I was sitting in a truck with our parents or harvesting crops because we didn’t have babysitters,” Chino says.

The roots of the Chino Farm were planted by their late parents Junzo and Hatsuyo, who emigrated from Japan to the U.S. in the early 1920s.

During World War II, the family was forced into an internment camp and lost the San Dieguito farmland they rented.

After the war, his parents bought 56 acres of land in Rancho Santa Fe that became Chino Farm. However, the racial discrimination from the war lingered, and it hurt. But Chino said his family was resilient.

“But, you know, we're we didn't break. We were very, we were very diligent about our work and we did our and we could see people, could see there were you know, we were working out in the fields and weren't playing around. That was important,” Chino explained

At Chino Farm, there are 50 kinds of unique fruits and vegetables grown on land one-tenth the size of an average U.S. farm.

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The freshly picked, day-of produce is sold on site at The Vegetable Shop, where you’ll likely find Makoto Chino, Tom’s son -- the third generation.

Determined to carry on the family business with his own spin, Makoto Chino created an artisan ice cream with those awesome strawberries. The idea for the ice cream came from a feeling that was truly visceral.

“Arrogance. I had ice cream in L.A., and I thought it best really represented what fruit tastes like. And I was like, I could do that if you can do it,” Makoto revealed.

He had traveled some and went to law school in L.A. before returning to the farm.

After two years of trial and error, Makoto created Aisu ice cream blending the farm’s excess strawberries, fruits and vegetables.

But success doesn’t come easy. He gets emotional thinking about his family’s struggles with racism after World War II.

“I think because there's not like there's not a lot of communication of memories because like, they faced a lot of racism. They have a lot of trauma from their childhood that, like so much of appreciating who they are, is believing their actions, even from like how you put the strawberries, right?“ said Makoto Chino.

Life is a passion for every single one of them, no matter what their focus is.

Makoto Chino, owner of Aisu ice cream

He further adds: “Life is a passion for every single one of them, no matter what their focus is. And they're going to try their best. Like, it's hard not to follow their footsteps.”

Tom Chino follows through on the Chino family commitment taught by his parents to grow the best produce.

With a hearty laugh that bubbles to the surface, Chino makes good on that childhood desire to succeed.

“It hasn't been easy, but, I mean, I think a lot of my customers like what they're getting I think," he said with a hearty laugh, “… and they want to keep it, you know, keep it available. And that kind of support helps us and makes us feel that it's worthwhile.”

As the koi flags fly high above Chino Farm, take it as a sign not only of pride and resilience but a sense of belonging that’s here to stay.