The Morning Star Company is the world's leading tomato processing and food production company, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Woodland, California. It operates three processing facilities in California's Central Valley and processes approximately 40% of the state's processing tomato production. The company supplies over 40% of national markets and about 10% of the world's ingredient tomato products, with annual sales exceeding $800 million.
Morning Star produces a range of tomato-based products, including bulk-ingredient tomato paste and diced tomatoes for food manufacturers, as well as finished products for the food service and retail trade markets. Its operations are dedicated solely to tomatoes, giving it the largest production scale of its kind globally.
The company is known for its distinctive organizational model, described as an "Innovative Mission Focused Self-Management" structure. It operates without traditional hierarchy or supervisory management. Workers define their own job responsibilities, are encouraged to innovate independently, and participate in equipment purchasing decisions in consultation with experts. This approach has attracted significant attention from business scholars and publications worldwide.
