Success at
Ruiz Foods is a
team effort
Ruiz chairman
Fred Ruiz, left,
with employees
Fernando Velez and
Rosa Alexander.
By Mark E. Stroder
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, Fernando Velez
was a shy 18-year-old farm worker, earning
$4.25 an hour milking cows in central
California. He didn’t speak English, had no
health insurance, no bank account—no real
