Anzar High graduate creates
Jayleaf Specialties to distribute herbs and salad mixes
Many college students have to work while they are going to
school. Jose Ornelas, a business administration major at San Jose
State University, runs a business that did $1.5 million in sales
last year.
Anzar High graduate creates
Jayleaf Specialties to distribute herbs and salad mixes
Many college students have to work while they are going to school. Jose Ornelas, a business administration major at San Jose State University, runs a business that did $1.5 million in sales last year.
A 22-year-old graduate of Anzar High School, Ornelas owns Jayleaf Specialties in Hollister. Staff buy, process and distribute herbs and specialty salad mixes, both conventional and organic.
This year, Ornelas hopes to do at least $2 million in sales.
“All this was brainstormed in college,” Ornelas said. “When I turned 19, my parents helped me start my own operation.”
Jayleaf is between 60 and 70 percent organic, Ornelas said.
“Organic is pretty much what the demand is showing,” Ornelas said.
Their main customers are wholesale distributors, Ornelas said. He sells as far south as San Diego, and as far north as Oregon, Ornelas said.
Everything is California grown, Ornelas said. He buys produce from Fresh Farms and Mission Ranches.
“For food safety concerns, there’s never a problem with them,” Ornelas said. “They have strict health regulations.”
He buys herbs from Pride of San Juan.
Jayleaf staff participate in the California Leafy Greens marketing agreement, a food safety program. It was started by California farmers, Ornelas said.
In 2005, Ornelas was Jayleaf’s only employee.
“I did the buying,” Ornelas said. “I did the sales. I did the financing.”
Today, Jayleaf has 23 employees.
“When I get my degree, I’m going to focus on offering a wider variety for my customers,” Ornelas said.
One day, he hopes to own his own chain of grocery stores.
Running Jayleaf is fun, Ornelas said.
“Anything can happen on any day,” Ornelas said. “There will always be problems, and problem solving is what makes it worth it.”
Due to his youth, Ornelas does not visit clients. He tries to keep his age a mystery.
“A lot of people in this business are older,” Ornelas said. “If there’s a problem, they try to blame my age for this, yet I get compliments from a lot of my clients that say my product is much better than other companies.”
Ornelas worked at Suprema Star, a company his parents own, from a young age. Suprema Star staff grow, process and distribute salad mixes.
“Pretty much anything that they needed,” Ornelas said. “Mixing salads, spin drying salads. Everything except farming.”
Ornelas is taking the semester off from SJSU. He hopes to graduate within three years by attending school part-time.
“It’s pretty much for my parents,” Ornelas said. “They’re pretty much advocates of getting the degree.”
The business could go bankrupt, but knowledge is forever, Ornelas said.
Going to school and running a business can be hard.
“I didn’t really know what I got into until it was too late,” Ornelas said. “But I can’t give up now.”
