Duckwall Fruit began in 1919, when the Duckwall brothers, John and William St. Clair, shipped apples from Hood River, Oregon to Indianapolis, Indiana. Returns were better than that of neighboring growers who asked to be included in the following year’s shipment.
Because of that initial success, John traveled to Europe in 1929 to establish export markets that have grown to about one-third of the farm’s total sales volume. In 1958, Duckwall Brothers moved all facilities to Odell, in the middle of the Hood River Valley, where they remain today. Duckwall Fruit currently packages over 2.25 million cartons of pears that are grown by over 70 growers on 115 separate farms. In 2019, the company will celebrate its 100th birthday.