Guy De Mangeon took a seat behind a small conference table, crossing his legs and sheepishly grinning when asked about his bright blue jeans.
His steely blue eyes glanced around the room — with its pale blue walls — in his Santa Barbara warehouse and offices, where Mangeon doesn’t keep a desk because he doesn’t want to get stuck sitting behind one.
“Blue is my color,” the 62-year-old said with a French accent.
It’s the color on which Mangeon has built his produce business, the hue on every Berry Man truck seen driving around town.
Blue corresponds to the working class that Mangeon still ascribes to, despite the fact that the business he founded 27 years ago has admittedly done well.
“We are the best company in the Tri-County area,” he said. “Business is growing a lot south.”
So well, in fact, that Berry Man, Inc. recently opened a third facility in Oxnard. The Berry Man is headquartered at 205 W Montecito St., with a second warehouse in San Luis Obispo.
Success has come, Mangeon said, because he focuses on service, quality and fair price (not necessarily the cheapest price).
The wholesale produce distributor supplying more than 2,000 restaurants, hospitals, schools, caterers and more from Big Sur down to Los Angeles started in 1989 as a much smaller operation out of the back of Mangeon’s truck.
After moving from his native France to the U.S. in 1980, Mangeon hitchhiked across 32 states before being dropped off in Santa Barbara — a place he knew nothing about.
He worked three jobs before saving up enough to open his own French restaurant in Ventura.
After that venture went under, Mangeon stumbled upon the produce business at a supermarket in Ojai, where a woman convinced him to buy five flats of strawberries for $5 each.
He sold them back to customers for $10. Soon after Mangeon began selling strawberries to local restaurants.
When cooks couldn’t remember his name — Guy (pronounced Gee) still spoke little English — they started calling him the Berry Man.
That business officially took off when restaurants asked Mangeon to bring back more than berries from his regular trips to Los Angeles farmers markets.
“It’s kind of like my passion,” he said of seeking out lesser-known items. “I will find it.”
The Berry Man delivers more than 3,000 products, most of which is grown within 75 miles of Santa Barbara.
Lettuce, pineapple, tomatoes, onions and spices with the Berry Man label line walls of the Santa Barbara warehouse, where inventory is meticulously checked because 50 percent of it has a shelf life of five days.
The distributor also carries eggs, milk, olive oil, pasta and produce-related items, all just a phone call away.
No matter the size or cost of the order, the Berry Man delivers within two hours almost every day of the year, Mangeon said.
“They’ll always say yes,” said Nancy Weiss, foodservice director for the Santa Barbara Unified High School District. “That’s his mentality. He is like the American dream story.”
Weiss first drafted Mangeon as her No. 1 distributor in the 1980s as she helped open SoHo.
When she joined the school district in 2008, he was one of the first people she called for fresh produce. He specially pre-packaged blends of freshly cut vegetables to use in school lunches and more recently launched a “farm-to-school” organic production menu.
Weis said Mangeon surrounds himself with loyal, enthusiastic people, which is probably why so many of them stay.
The Berry Man has 100 employees in Santa Barbara, with another 60 in San Luis Obispo and 20 in Oxnard. Fifty box trucks and 22 cars provide all the advertising Mangeon needs.
Angelica Castillo, who manages Berry Man’s books, has worked for Mangeon since 1996. She started as a maid cleaning the offices but soon found encouragement to learn English, accounting and administrative skills at Santa Barbara City College.
“He was the one supporting me all the way,” said Castillo, whose son is a Berry Man driver. “He’s awesome. Here it’s like a family.”
Berry Man President Les Clark has taken over most day-to-day operations since joining Mangeon 18 years ago and is proud of the company’s low turnover rate.
The Berry Man has grown by about 10 percent each year, selling $50 million in produce annually. Its largest clients include UC Santa Barbara, SBCC and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
“Everybody that works here is the Berry Man,” Clark said. “It’s much more than one person. He’s a character. You will never find anyone more genuine.”
Growing pains prompted the business to open the 1720 Mountain View Rd. facility in Oxnard, which will host a grand opening party on April 13.
With Clark’s help, Mangeon was finally able to take a vacation after 20 years.
He now owns a home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he spends much of his time. He focuses philanthropic efforts there as well as locally.
“I know that if you work hard, you get something,” Mangeon said.
More often than not, he can still be found wandering within the blue walls of Berry Man headquarters, telling stories about his American dream come true.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.