Page 62 - Forbes India (December 2015)

CROSS BORDER thE wOnDERful COmpany — RESniCkS

it’s a wonderful life: The resnicks’ fields (in green) and those of their neighbours near lost hills, California. image courtesy: Google earth
or over four years a record- ever before, about $3 billion. of California citrus, flower-delivery
breaking drought has Their oasis has plenty of water, service Teleflora, POM Wonderful
scorched central California the result of relentless opportunism pomegranate juice and Fiji Water,
F with Old Testament cruelty. that has given their orchards access which collectively brought in $3.8
Drive west of Bakersfield into the to more water than nearly any other billion in sales last year. By their own
heart of the San Joaquin Valley and farm during the worst drought on estimates, almost half of American
soon you will be engulfed by sloping record in California’s history. The households buy their products.
brown hills broken up by dusty, Resnicks use at least 120 billion Not everyone is eager to fill
slate-coloured fields. Desolate little gallons a year, two-thirds on nuts, their pantry with a Resnick brand.
towns off the highway dot the parched enough to supply San Francisco’s Agriculture’s king and queen have a
landscape. Lost Hills (population 852,000 residents for a decade. They history of commandeering natural
2,412) consists largely of a tamale own a majority stake in the Kern resources in pursuit of profit, and
shack, a mostly empty James Dean- Water Bank, one of California’s their actions in Fiji—where they
themed shop, a dilapidated tyre largest underground water storage annually fill millions of plastic
store and a rundown pool hall. facilities, which they got fairly but bottles with water and then ship
Yet, there is an Eden. It’s a little sagely from the government 20 years them thousands of miles across
to the west of Lost Hills, off Route ago. It is capable of storing 500 billion the world while residents haven’t
33. Here there are rows upon rows gallons of water. They have also spent always had access to potable water
of green—some 70,000 lush acres of at least $35 million in recent years themselves—have already infuriated
water-hungry pistachio and almond buying up more water from nearby environmentalists. Now they are
trees. Come at the right time of the districts to replenish their supplies. being vilified in California for their
The Resnicks, who live in a
year, and you’ll see the almond trees nine-bedroom mansion in Beverly water use in the ongoing drought.
fEDERiCO winER fOR fORBES a blanket of light pink petals. This Hills and fly into the valley about asked to take cuts for the one percent:
“Ninety-nine percent of us are being
blossoming, covering the valley in
Stewart Resnick,” says Barbara
once or twice a month, are crafty
land belongs to the billionaire Res-
Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director
dealmakers and even finer marketers.
nicks, Stewart, 77, and Lynda, 72.
of Restore the Delta, a Stockton,
In addition to the pistachios and
It’s the most valuable part of their
California-based non-profit working
almonds, their company, renamed
$4.3 billion fortune. Those crops
and the land are worth more than
62 | FORBES INDIA DECEMBER 11, 2015 Wonderful in June, owns 32,000 acres to protect fisheries and farms in the