HISTORY
The origins of our company begin with Sylvester Caruso Battaglia, known to his friends as "Batt", who was born in Troy, NY in 1907. After completing high school at the age of 16, he enrolled in the Wharton School of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr.Battaglia graduated in 1927 with a B.S. in Economics and moved to Orlando to work with his uncle as Secretary and General Manager of Southern Fruit Distributors, Inc. where he was a stockholder.
In 1948 Battaglia left his uncle to venture out on his own. He
created Battaglia Fruit Company in 1950. It was then that he leased and later acquired the
former R.D. Keene packing house in Winter Garden, Florida. During the years that followed he
acquired and planted groves in a number of counties and established one of the region’s best
known fresh-fruit businesses. The company, which packed and shipped oranges under a number of
brands, including Billy-Bob (named for his two sons), regularly ranked among the state’s top 10
fresh fruit shippers.
Currently operating under the name Battaglia Group, the Battaglia
family businesses which consist of real estate holdings including office buildings and other
agricultural investment properties in Orange, Lake, and Osceola counties.
