New Page

65 Old Indian Road, P.O. Box 246, Milton, NY 12547 (845) 795-2121

Izzie (Isador) Albinder first entered the apple business back in 1932, by buying a pushcart and selling apples in the neighborhood streets of Brooklyn, New York. Since it took great effort to wheel around the heavy pushcart, and since the business was profitable, he soon rented a horse drawn wagon. (This cost him $1.50 per day). In his first week with the horse and wagon, he made a profit of $92.00 and soon the wagon became a truck.

There came a time when he had trouble finding apples of high enough quality to sell to his customers, so he decided to go "upstate" to find them himself. That trip to the Hudson Valley soon led to buying into a packinghouse of his own. This provided him with much better quality control.

Harold Albinder (President) Izzie's son, joined his father in 1964, after graduating from SUNY Farmingdale with a degree in Agriculture and quickly assimilated his father's high standards. Only the best were good enough for the Albinders.

In 1967 they bought their first orchard to provide even more control over the quality of the apples they sold. Harold continued to expand the business, and in 1972, with the purchase of his eighth orchard, brought the total to over 1000 acres of cultivated land.

Constantly planting and replanting, Harold has made a major impact in the care and cultivation of the orchards. From fertilizing, irrigating and handling, Harold is there teaching and instructing in every detail. Just watching the care with which he picks an apple, would amaze the layman. It is hard to believe that there is so much to it. He teaches this same care to all his employees.

Dan Albinder (Vice President) Harold's son, joined the business full time in 1980, after also graduating from SUNY Farmingdale with a degree in Agriculture. Over the last 20 years, he has learned the business from the ground up. He worked in the orchards learning the growing process, and then moved into the packinghouse. Moving through all the departments, including quality control and plant manager, he eventually worked his way up to Vice President.

While Dan was learning and growing, so too the business continued to grow and expand. In January of 1996 there was a fire, which destroyed almost all of the plant facilities. Instead of allowing this disaster to be a setback, the Albinders took it as an opportunity and decided to rebuild. By March of the same year, they were operating the most modern "State of the Art" packing and storage facility, not only in the State of New York, but also in New England.

Pat Ferrara: The most recent addition to Hudson River Fruit Distributors.
Pat graduated from Dutchess Community College in 1973 and started his
career as a produce clerk learning produce from the ground up. Pat also
founded and built a local farm market which thrived for over 10 years.
Recently, Pat has had over 15 years of wholesale experience with 2 highly
regarded wholesale companies in the Northeast. With Pat's extensive produce
background, Hudson River Fruit Distributors and Pat Ferarra are a good
match.

With total control of growing, selling, shipping and packing, the three generations of Albinders, along with their hand-picked staff, have been able to devote themselves to producing the highest quality fruit in the industry.

(800) 640-2774 (toll free)
(845) 795-2121 (main number)
(845) 795-2618 (fax line)