Underwood Ranches Farmside Chat & Tour
Friday, June 9, 2023
10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Underwood Family Farms - Moorpark Farm Center
Loyola Marymount University invites you to a day at Underwood Family Farms to experience a behind the scenes, unique look at an entrepreneurship success story. Known for years as the sriracha king for its lucrative pepper crop, Underwood Ranches business ventures were drastically impacted after losing a key customer, leading to a high-profile lawsuit. Their rebound is an inspiring story of diversification, innovation, morals, and ethical discernment. Join us as LMU’s Carol Costello interviews owner Craig Underwood for a “Farmside Chat,” as well as a wagon drawn tour of the farm, berry picking, BBQ lunch, and a sampling of their own line of hot sauces.
About the Farmside Chat
Craig Underwood is the owner of Underwood Ranches, his wholesale agribusiness based in Camarillo. His Moorpark based direct-sales business, Underwood Family Farms, welcomes the public to “pick-your-own” produce, has been visited by schoolchildren on educational farm tours, and hosts seasonal festivals which raises funds for local organizations. Following the collapse of a thirty year partnership with the maker of the world-famous Sriracha sauce and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with the company, he has successfully reinvented his business with a diverse selection of crops as well as his own brand of hot sauces. He also operates produce stands, appears at farmer’s markets across Los Angeles and Ventura counties and maintains a Community Supported Agriculture program. The Underwood family has been farming in Ventura County since 1867, and Craig remains an active and engaged community member, serving on boards, and giving back. He is a Navy veteran and graduate of Cornell University.
Carol Costello is an award-winning journalist and former anchor and national correspondent at CNN and HLN. Her distinguished career as a local, regional, and national broadcaster spans three decades, covering a broad range of world leaders, events, and politics. She has won an Emmy Award for her reporting on the crack/cocaine epidemic, a Dupont for her coverage of the Indonesian tsunami, and 2 Emmy award nominations for broadcast performance and best morning show. Carol also participated in CNN’s Peabody-award winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 presidential election. She now produces the true-crime podcast, Carol Costello Presents: Blind Rage, teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University, and serves as a special advisor and ambassador.