At a Los Angeles farmers market, the most interesting discovery isn't always the biggest table or the brightest display.

Sometimes it's a fruit you've never seen before.

For shoppers who have spent time at Southern California farmers markets, Rincon Tropics is a name worth remembering. The Carpinteria-based farm specializes in subtropical fruit, including passion fruit, cherimoya, citrus, dragon fruit, and other varieties that aren't always easy to find at a conventional grocery store.

Behind the business is Nick Brown, a sixth-generation Carpinteria farmer whose family has been farming in the area since the 1870s.

Brown grew up working around his family's farms and farmers-market booth. His experience eventually led him to create Rincon Tropics, first building relationships with customers at farmers markets and later expanding into direct-to-consumer shipping.

His story is a good reminder that a farmers-market vendor is often much more than the person standing behind the table.

They may be a grower, marketer, packer, delivery driver, business owner—and sometimes, like Brown, part of a farming family that has been working the same region for generations.

Meet Nick Brown

Business: Rincon Tropics
Based: Carpinteria, California
Specialty: Subtropical and specialty fruit
Family farming history: Six generations
Website: Rincon Tropics

Rincon Tropics describes itself as a sixth-generation Carpinteria farming operation focused on providing fresh fruit directly to consumers with as few steps as possible. The farm says it does not use sprays or pesticides and instead relies on practices including cover crops, beneficial insects, and interplanted fields.

The Interview

Q: What do you grow?

Nick Brown: Rincon Tropics specializes in subtropical fruit.

One of the farm's best-known products is passion fruit, which Brown describes as one of the farm's specialties. The fruit is grown on vines and harvested throughout a season that generally runs from mid-summer into spring, depending on the year.

The farm also grows and sources other specialty fruits, including cherimoya and different varieties of citrus.

That's part of what makes Rincon Tropics interesting for farmers-market shoppers: the selection isn't limited to the familiar apples, oranges, peaches, and strawberries that dominate conventional produce aisles.

Q: How did you get started in farming?

Nick Brown: Farming wasn't something that appeared out of nowhere.

Brown is a sixth-generation Carpinteria farmer. According to Rincon Tropics' own history, he grew up on the family ranch and worked at the family farmers-market booth from his teenage years.

His family also operated a packing house, where Brown's early jobs included putting labels on individual pieces of fruit before they were packed and shipped. He later described learning the process of cleaning, sorting, packing, labeling, boxing, and preparing fruit for distribution.

That experience gave him a perspective that goes beyond growing the fruit.

He learned what happens after harvest, too.

Q: How did Rincon Tropics become a business?

Nick Brown: The business grew from direct relationships with customers.

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, customers who had previously purchased Brown's fruit at the Santa Monica Farmers Market began reaching out to him through direct messages because they missed the produce.

Those messages eventually became local deliveries, then fruit boxes, and eventually a full direct-to-consumer business.

Brown wrote that what started with customer DMs and a Google form eventually grew into a network of customers across the country.

It is an interesting example of how a farmers-market relationship can develop beyond the market itself.

A customer buys fruit.

They come back.

They remember the farm.

Then they want that same fruit again even when they can't make it to the market.

Q: What makes your fruit different?

Nick Brown: The farm focuses heavily on freshness and reducing the number of steps between harvest and the customer.

Rincon Tropics says its fruit is grown on family farms in Carpinteria and neighboring properties, with different farms offering different microclimates, soils, topography, and harvest windows.

That geographic variety matters.

Even when two farms grow the same type of fruit, the growing conditions can influence when the fruit ripens and how it develops.

For a shopper, that means the same category of fruit can taste different depending on its variety, harvest timing, and growing location.

The Fruit That Put Rincon Tropics on the Map

If there's one fruit that makes Rincon Tropics especially memorable, it's passion fruit.

Passion fruit isn't necessarily something most shoppers put on their weekly grocery list.

That's exactly what makes it fun.

The fruit has a fragrant, intensely flavored interior that works well eaten fresh, spooned over yogurt, incorporated into desserts, or used in drinks and sauces.

Rincon Tropics says its passion fruit naturally falls from the vine when mature, meaning the fruit is already ripe when it reaches that stage.

The farm's specialty fruit has also attracted attention from chefs and food publications. The New Yorker profiled Brown and his Carpinteria operation while exploring the growing interest in fresh passion fruit in Los Angeles.

And Then There Is Cherimoya

Cherimoya is another fruit that has a deep connection to the Brown family.

The family history with the fruit goes back decades. The Los Angeles Times reported that Anthony Brown and his twin brother planted their first commercial block of cherimoya at age 16 in 1967, eventually helping establish the family as a major California cherimoya grower and packer.

Today, cherimoya remains part of the family's unusual fruit story.

For shoppers who have never tried one, the best approach is simple:

Ask the farmer when it's ready.

Cherimoya is a fruit where ripeness matters enormously. When properly ripe, it becomes soft and creamy, making it very different from the firm fruit shoppers may be accustomed to picking up at a supermarket.

Q: What should someone buy if they've never tried your fruit?

For a first-time shopper, passion fruit is an easy place to start.

Cut one open and scoop out the fragrant pulp.

Try it on its own.

Then experiment.

Add it to:

• Yogurt
• Oatmeal
• Ice cream
• Cheesecake
• Fruit salad
• Cocktails
• Salad dressings
• Smoothies

If you're shopping for something more unusual, ask about cherimoya when it's in season.

And if citrus is available, ask the vendor what variety is tasting best that week.

The important thing is not to shop for a specific fruit simply because you've seen it online.

Ask what's ready right now.

Q: Why are farmers markets important to your business?

Brown's story shows one of the biggest advantages of farmers markets: direct relationships.

The Santa Monica Farmers Market helped connect Rincon Tropics with customers who wanted specialty fruit and were willing to seek it out.

Those relationships continued even when customers couldn't physically visit the market.

The farm's direct-to-consumer business grew from those connections.

That is one of the reasons farmers markets matter to small agricultural businesses.

The transaction isn't necessarily the end of the relationship.

It can be the beginning.

Where LA Shoppers Can Experience the Farmers-Market Connection

Rincon Tropics has roots in the Santa Monica Farmers Market, which is one of the most established farmers-market systems in the Los Angeles region.

The city currently operates four weekly farmers markets. Santa Monica's farmers markets feature certified California farms and seasonal agricultural products, and the city describes its markets as places where shoppers can interact directly with growers.

The Main Street Santa Monica Farmers Market currently operates:

Day: Sunday
Time: 8:30 AM–1:30 PM
Address: 2640 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404

The market includes certified California farms, prepared foods, live entertainment, and local retail vendors.

For shoppers interested in the broader Santa Monica market scene, the city's Downtown Farmers Market is another major destination. The Saturday market is particularly known for its large selection of certified-organic growers.

What a Vendor Wants Shoppers to Know

One lesson from Brown's story is that unusual produce doesn't have to be intimidating.

You don't need to know exactly how to use passion fruit before buying it.

You don't need to recognize every citrus variety.

You don't need to know how to tell a perfectly ripe cherimoya from an underripe one.

Ask.

That's one of the reasons to shop at a farmers market in the first place.

The person behind the table can tell you:

What's ripe?

What's sweetest?

What's coming into season?

How should I store it?

What do you do with it at home?

Those questions can turn a five-minute purchase into a mini food lesson.

A Different Kind of Farming Story

Rincon Tropics isn't simply a story about exotic fruit.

It's a story about continuity.

A family farm that began generations ago.

A young person who grew up working around the business.

A farmers-market booth that introduced the family fruit to customers.

A pandemic that forced a change in how customers bought produce.

And a direct-to-consumer business that grew from those relationships.

That progression illustrates something important about modern farmers markets.

They aren't frozen in the past.

The market stall may look traditional, but the businesses behind it are constantly adapting.

Some vendors are building online stores.

Others are creating subscription boxes.

Some are shipping nationally.

Others are using social media to tell customers exactly what will be available on Sunday morning.

The market is still the meeting place—but the relationship doesn't necessarily end when the shopper walks away.

What to Bring When Shopping for Specialty Fruit

If you're planning a farmers-market trip specifically to buy delicate or unusual fruit, prepare for it.

Bring a sturdy reusable bag

Soft fruit can bruise easily, so avoid crushing it underneath heavy vegetables.

Bring an insulated bag

Especially useful if you're buying cheese, dairy, or other temperature-sensitive products during a warm Los Angeles afternoon.

Bring a small amount of cash

Many markets and vendors accept cards, but having another payment option is useful.

Bring questions

This might be the most important item.

Ask the vendor what is best that day.

Don't overbuy

Specialty fruit is exciting.

But if you've never tried it before, start with a small quantity.

You can always come back for more.

The Best Part of the Farmers Market Isn't Always the Produce

A farmers market can give you something a supermarket cannot: context.

You can learn that a passion fruit came from a sixth-generation farming family in Carpinteria.

You can discover that the fruit on the table was harvested only days earlier.

You can learn why one variety tastes different from another.

And you can meet the person responsible for bringing it to you.

That's what makes vendor stories worth telling.

Behind every interesting market stall is a business, a family, a growing season, and usually a lot more work than the customer sees.

The next time you pass a vendor selling something you've never tasted, stop.

Ask what it is.

Ask where it came from.

Ask when it was picked.

Then take one home.

You might discover your new favorite fruit—and a farmer whose story you'll remember long after the market closes.