Val Verde Vegetable Co. is the culmination of three generations of Frank Schuster’s family efforts. The base farm started in 1947 after Frank Schuster Sr. came back to the Rio Grande Valley after his service in World War II. Vegetables were always the primary crop grown, rounded out with cotton, corn, and sugar cane.

With luck and much effort Frank Sr grew the farm to its current size, buying pieces of land without power or water and developing the infrastructure. Frank Sr. expanded the types of crops being grown through constant experimentation and trials of produce that would flourish in southern Texas. He also became a tireless advocate for farmers at the state and federal levels, trying to get the non-farming community to help adoption of standards that would help American farmers consumers.

After his untimely death at the age of 57, the management went to his son, Frank John Schuster. In 1984, Frank J. started Val Verde Vegetable Co. to market what was grown on the farm and to control the quality of produce bearing the family name as it reached customers. This venture expanded to include marketing Mexican produce to be able to offer almost year-round availability of products that would complement what was being grown in the United States.

After Frank John’s sons Kurt and Max Schuster returned to the farm, a new mix of products was added including organic acreage and a variety of specialty vegetables like methi leaf, black and watermelon radishes, and a wide variety of Asian vegetables to open new markets and further add to the mix of products.