Agriculture 2024: DAVID GUM

National Fruit Product Co., which sells apple products east of the Mississippi mostly under the White House Foods label, has been family owned since 1908. Gum started working at the company in 1981 at age 20 in an entry-level accounting position. He purchased it from its founding family in 2006.

The Gum family also owns Winchester-based furniture manufacturer Henkel Harris, acquired in 2013.

Among National Fruit Product’s offerings are apple cider vinegar, apple juice and applesauce. The company bills itself as the largest privately owned producer of apple products and vinegar in the nation. Gum has said he is committed to growing company-owned orchards by 200 acres each year, with a goal of eventually producing 50% of its supply needs. Today, in addition to Virginia apples, the company’s fruit is sourced from North Carolina, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In September 2023, West Virginia-based Taylor Farms sued National Fruit Product, claiming that the apple processor had failed to pay more than $3.5 million it owed Taylor for sale of apples harvested in orchard space it had been leasing from National Fruit Product, which countersued for $10 million, alleging Taylor Farms damaged National Fruit’s orchards. As of late July, the case was still in federal court.