Man on the Move
Does Juan Morales ever sit down?
“I’m hyperactive by nature,” says Juan Morales. It’s a personal trait he recognized early on. As a prominent businessman and entrepreneur in Teton Valley, Juan is at the helm of two local companies: Naughty Fruit and Morales Home Made.
Both businesses are owned by Juan, but it’s a family affair. He works alongside his parents, Horacio and Rosa, and each business features delicious products reflecting their Mexican heritage.
Visit the Jackson Farmers Market on the Town Square and the Wednesday People’s Market and you’ll find the family serving fresh tamales, tacos, and salsa. Poke into groceries and gift shops on both sides of the Tetons—or anywhere in the intermountain region—and you’re apt to discover colorful packages of Naughty Fruit, Juan’s spiced, dried fruit inspiration reminiscent of the chili-spiced citrus fruit found at markets in Mexico.
In addition to keeping both of these enterprises humming along, the Morales family does private catering with their taco truck, and Juan dips into his love of dancing with private salsa lessons. To say Juan stays busy is an understatement, and his mark on the Teton communities is ever-growing.
Why tackle all these ventures? Juan’s life history yields some insight. He and his family moved from Mexico to the Los Angeles area when he was three years old. When he was twelve, Juan and family relocated to Jackson, and then to Victor, where he graduated from Teton High in 2004. Juan attended Boise State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication science. His tenure included a semester in France with a focus on business. Moving back to Los Angeles, he worked by day as an apprentice to a construction engineer, and by night as an actor, model, and salsa dance instructor. “I learned the value of hard work and the grind,” he says.
Then, in his mid-twenties, Juan returned to the Tetons to help his family when his father sustained a back injury. At that juncture, he made a life decision: “I quickly identified that I wanted to have more choices over my freedom.” Thus began the journey he now embraces with energy and passion. “I enjoy what I do for a living,” Juan says. “Our lifestyle is based on what we do and this place we love to live in.”
Detailing a few days of a typical summer’s work week, Juan illustrates the rigors of charting his own course. Twelve to sixteen-hour days are the norm. Mondays begin with acquiring all the week’s raw ingredients for tamales, tacos, and Naughty Fruit (a perpetual production), then rounding up any permits or licenses required. Wednesdays involve prepping and loading for the People’s Market and private events. Weekends are the most demanding. Saturday begins in the wee hours—1:30am to 2am—preparing tamales for the Jackson Farmers Market, where the count sold can reach 1,200 to 1,400. Customers value the fresh, hot tamales, which are never premade and reheated, Juan explains.
On an easy day, the family is home by 3pm. But most often, a private event, like a party or wedding in the region, keeps them out until 10pm or later. On Sunday, Rosa and Horacio set up at the Jackson High School soccer fields for La Liga, the adult soccer league games, where Morales Home Made sells shaved ice and spiced fruit cups. Juan takes over any private events, as well as maintaining output for Naughty Fruit. With all the prep, packaging, and shipping done in house, each week Juan processes somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds of apples, pears, bananas, mangos, and pineapple. The attractive packages are sent throughout the U.S. and its territories. A year-round endeavor, Naughty Fruit ramps up during the holiday season, when Juan collects additional Teton Valley food products to include in Naughty Fruit gift baskets sold locally and online.
Besides supporting himself and his family with his businesses, Juan values giving back to the community and sharing something bigger than himself. “To contribute something tasty, healthy, and unique is definitely personal and a part of who you are; that’s where the love comes from,” he says. Juan also prioritizes Naughty Fruits’ environmental footprint: its packaging is biodegradable, and apples and pears are sourced in Idaho. After processing, Juan delivers fruit scraps to a local farm for use as animal feed and compost.
In the rare instances when he’s not working, the self-described “hyperactive” Juan likes to unwind by dancing salsa. Favorite local spots include Jackson’s Wort Hotel and The Rose. With a weekend off, Juan often heads to Boise where dance venues are abundant. When the markets and private events slow down, his parents, now at retirement age, head to Mexico for the winter. Juan sticks around Teton Valley to fill the burgeoning orders for Naughty Fruit.
Now in his mid-thirties, Juan is intent on growing Naughty Fruit to nationwide distribution and beyond. Last November, he was a recipient of Jackson nonprofit Silicon Couloir’s coveted People’s Choice award, a cash prize supporting local entrepreneurs. He envisions utilizing the award to find warehouse space and hire a couple of employees. He hopes to expand Whole Foods’ distribution of Naughty Fruit, which only the Jackson store currently carries.
But Juan is also achieving more balance. “I’ve learned to make time for family, friends, and food, for my well-being,” he says. “To stop, process, and connect, that’s when positive things happen.”
A man with a plan—and a characteristic sly grin—Juan urges all of us
to “support local, eat local, and eat Naughty.”
