Valley Ice Products was founded over 20 years ago. It began as an idea between owners of a chain of convenience stores, who found that getting ice during scorching Valley summers was quite a challenge. With only two ice manufacturers to purchase from at the time, the opportunity presented itself to venture into the ice making business.
After some exploration into the ice business, the Mann family began an extensive and intricate process to open up their first ice plant in Sanger, CA. This plant would produce 20 tons of ice a day. The Mann’s ran it as a family business in all meanings of the term. The business then expanded into Mrs. Mann’s family as well. The customer base was increasing steadily, therefore the plant expanded to 60 tons with the addition of two more ice machines. With service being Valley Ice’s selling point (which included and still includes delivery 7 days a week) and competitive pricing, the Mann family was able to bring the plant to peak capacity, packing almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until finally the need for expansion was inevitable.
In 2008, Valley Ice broke ground on a new ice plant in Fowler, CA. This plant was able to harvest 200 tons of ice daily, with the everything fitted and prepared to go for 600 tons of ice a day. Using state of the art technology, this plant was built with no expenses spared at a ten million dollar budget. With expansion, came more trucks, employees, and customers.
It is now 2018 and the Fowler plant is fully operational and is the primary source of production, with the Sanger plant serving as mainly storage and a site for block ice production. With production now in full swing, Valley Ice Products is capable of serving almost the entire San Joaquin Valley, from Turlock to Bakersfield. It continues to promise the same superior service, pricing, and quality of ice that it promised years ago when the Valley Ice Products dream was first realized.