About 12,000 pounds of fresh fruit will be mixed in 2,500-gallon
water tank (shown above). The container is eight feet in diameter
and eight and-a-half-feet tall.
Photo courtesy of Sam Mabanta

On Thursday, Nov. 3, Fresno State marketing students will attempt to break the world record for making the biggest fruit salad.

The attempt will be held at 7 a.m. at P-R Farms, located at the corner of Willow and Shepard Avenues in Clovis.

The fruit will be cut up and placed into a 2,500-gallon water tank where it will be weighed and recorded.

The abundance of fruits and vegetables grown locally inspired students enrolled in the Marketing 158 course to make the world’s biggest fruit salad as part of their senior project.

The current world record fruit salad was made on July 27, 2003 in Peru and contained 8,866 pounds of fruit.

So far the Fresno State marketing students have collected 12,000 pounds of fresh fruit, including peaches, plums, nectarines, apples and Asian pears.

Most of the fruit was donated by Kingsburg Orchards, Trinity Fruit Sales and other local growers.

“This area is completely driven by agriculture,” Nick Morales, a Fresno State marketing student involved with the project, said. “Therefore it just makes sense to hold a record-breaking attempt that shows all that we have to offer.”

Proof of the abundant of agricultural production in the San Joaquin Valley can be found in the Fresno County 2010 annual crop and livestock report. The report shows that in Fresno County the most common crops produced are grapes, almonds, tomatoes, poultry, milk, garlic, pistachios, oranges and cotton. The report also revealed that in 2010 the total gross production value of Fresno County agricultural commodities was just less than $6 million.

Morales said that although the San Joaquin Valley is an agricultural mega-center, many people lack food.

When the record-breaking attempt is over, the 12,000 pounds of fresh fruit will be donated to the Poverello House, Fresno Rescue Mission, various local charities and other non-profit organizations.

“There’s always been this problem here with the homeless and the less fortunate and it’s hard to deal with because we live in such an agricultural area,” Morales said.

Morales said that’s the reason why the marketing students decided to donate the fruit after the record-breaking attempt, so that something could be given back to the community that produces so much.

While the record-breaking day is fast approaching, organizing it took quite a bit of time.

Students and community members can also get their share of the fruit salad by going to the P-R Farms on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

Sam Mabanta, a Fresno State marketing major and student involved with the project, said that it has been a long and exciting process.

“It takes a couple of weeks for Guinness and the county to approve it,” Mabanta said. “It’s a good learning experience though. There’s a lot of technical things that go into the planning.”

Students involved with the project are excited to attempt to break the world record and have learned many helpful strategies along the way.

“The best part has just been getting out there and networking and making those connections that will help in the future,” Morales said.

Cynthia Villarreal, a Fresno State political science major, believes that people should try and get involved in activities that demonstrate what the Fresno area has to offer.

“It’s really important to support your local businesses and producers and for us here that just happens to be agriculture,” Villarreal said.

Morales encouraged students to come to the world record-breaking attempt on Thursday and said that any help would be much appreciated.­ Anyone interested in helping or looking for more information can email [email protected].