Generations of Industry Relationships: JP Sullivan Celebrates 100 Years in 2025

JP Sullivan & Co., Ayer, MA, packer and shipper of fresh apples grown in the eastern U.S., marks its 100th year in business in 2025. It is likely one of the few apple marketers that started with a produce wagon, talking to and selling directly to its customers. Much has changed from those days in Boston’s Haymarket Square, yet the partnerships with growers and customer-centric service with retailers have remained the same.

In 1925, most farmers had not considered using a sales agent for their products. Joseph Sullivan saw an opportunity to strengthen apple growers collectively with the best price — allowing the farmers to keep their focus on their agricultural endeavors.

The business model grew with a new facility to pack apples and then a partnership with employee Edward O’Neill. Over the years, the O’Neill family became the sole owners of JP Sullivan. The most recent O’Neill, Ned, recently stepped away for a change in careers as JP Sullivan was acquired by the Armock family in 2022.

Like so many kids growing up in the apple industry, “first jobs” were tasks on the orchard, from picking up brush to working the farmstand, and Ned was no different. After college, he too, entered the apple packing industry, just as his father and grandfather before him.

He says his first roles were quality control, and going out into the orchards talking with growers and learning the nuances of other packing sheds. Each O’Neill started in the same fashion — learning the industry, from the people to the process.

In an industry like apples, Ned says it best, “You grow a produce person.”

Looking ahead, John Russell, president, says JP Sullivan will continue to grow partnerships with family-owned orchards in New England and New York. “We will look to expand in and outside our industry and be a supplier of choice,” he says.

Russell says, “No two days are the same and no seasons are identical, but some things do remain the same — JP Sullivan is poised to grow their relationships and their craft for the next 100 years, just as we have for the first 100.”