Imagine living in the middle of more than half a million acres of the world’s finest and most productive almond orchards in California’s fertile Sacramento River Valley. Two well-known agriculture families—the Koehnens and Paivas—had their roots in this land of plenty.
In 2004, they joined forces. Their vision: to provide firstclass processing, packaging and shipping to customers worldwide.
The families brought together over 100 years of experience in farming, beekeeping and hulling/shelling. With that much industry knowledge, they knew what it would take to be successful. For Riverwest, it meant going international.
Riverwest called on KCoe Isom to identify tax strategies and innovative tools for reducing their risk while venturing into foreign territory. By using an ICDISC (Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation), which provides a tax break for qualifying U.S. exporters, Riverwest injected working capital into the operation, securing the livelihood of hundreds of workers while enabling the company to reach a highly lucrative international market.
Committed to remaining independent, the founding families asked KCoe Isom’s consultants to lead them through the process of setting up trusts that ensured the next generation would be set up to carry on the family business.
Today, Riverwest is one of the biggest, family-run, nut processors, shipping natural California-grown almonds from their backyard to destinations around the globe.
