Seven Months of Summer: Moonlight’s Technological Advantage with Jared Riley, Chief Technology Officer

CALIFORNIA - At Moonlight Companies, summer isn’t a promotional moment—it’s a mindset realized. While many stonefruit programs follow a narrow window, Moonlight has built something different: seven months of consistent, premium fruit—and the means to such an end is everything, starting with the technology and leadership driving the program forward.

“Most companies have IT departments. At Moonlight, we’ve built something closer to a technology organization embedded inside agriculture. Our team of programmers, developers, and specialists is focused on creating proprietary systems—from vision computing to robotics—that shape how the operation runs. The goal is straightforward: remove subjectivity and deliver consistent outcomes, whether in the field or inside our facilities,” Jared Riley, Chief Technology Officer, shares with me. 

Consider Moonlight's electric tractors, data-informed decision-making, and integrated workflows; all of Moonlight’s systems work together to deliver the same outcome, again and again: premium fruit, across an extended season.

This approach shapes how Moonlight evaluates innovation across its operation. 

From predictive modeling to evolving AI capabilities and integrated systems throughout the supply chain, the focus remains consistent: Moonlight executes its technology vision to improve outcomes. Each tool is introduced with intention—selected, tested, and implemented in ways that support both the fruit and the people behind it. 

“What sets Moonlight apart isn’t any one breakthrough—it’s a steady commitment to a long-term vision,” Jared reflects. “A lot of what we’re doing today started as ideas years ago, but it took the right mix of accessibility, affordability, and practicality to bring them to life. As those technologies have evolved, we’ve been able to layer them into our operations piece by piece, turning that vision into something we can execute on every day.”

That vision continues to guide how technology is integrated across the business.

At Moonlight, technology isn’t the story, it is merely a tool in writing it. The story is consistency. And through a disciplined, evolving approach to innovation, Moonlight continues to build that story seven months at a time.