Sleeping Giant Fruit Winery

Ted Atkinson founded Summerland Sweets in 1962 after having received a Bachelors Degree in Food Science at Oregon State University in Corvallis in the 1920’s. He also worked at the Federal Agricultural Research Station in Summerland and acted as head of the food processing lab there for many years.

In the early 1960’s Ted was on the verge of retiring from his distinguished career. He was also a very active member of the local Rotary Club and decided to make a fruit jelly candy to raise funds for the club. Working out of a pickers’ cabin on his cherry orchard he produced candy for the club for a couple of years before he turned to commercial production. What began as a fundraising effort grew into a retirement project and blossomed into Summerland Sweets Ltd.!

Sleeping Giant Winery is owned by Summerland Sweets. What lay behind Ted’s success with Summerland Sweets was his dedication to quality; he was particular about the type of fruit that went into his products — and his guidelines which are still followed today, have now been incorporated into the new Sleeping Giant Winery.