VACA Shears are manufactured by Superior Fruit Equipment in Wenatchee, Washington, the "heart of the fruit growing region of the Pacific Northwest".  Our location gives us instant access to feedback from the users of the tools we manufacture.

VACA Shears was founded in Vacaville, California in 1910 and the tools have been in continuous production for more than 90 years. Dennis Dadian’s father, George, brought the VACA company to Fresno in 1972 and Dennis went to work for him as a teenager. The senior Dadian sold the company in 1987 to Village Blacksmith, which became part of Olympia Tools in 1991. Dennis Dadian remained with VACA through all the changes and purchased VACA from Olympia in 1993.

VACA became a member of the Superior Fruit Equipment family in September, 2000. VACA owner Dennis Dadian joined the management team of Superior Fruit Equipment and remains in Fresno as director of southern operations.

The merger has proven beneficial to all VACA and Hickok tool users as the increased volume of products being manufactured allowed for the immediate acquisition of sophisticated machinery that neither company would have otherwise been able to purchase so quickly on their own. The stepped-up timeline brought state-of-the-art CNC (computer numerically controlled) equipment to most of the manufacturing processes. The CNC milling and grinding machinery provides a degree of precision and consistency not possible with human-controlled processes. The new precision standards created more finely-joined parts that work smoother, easier and longer with less operator fatigue. The equipment increased production significantly, allowing expanded and prompt customer service in even the most demanding seasons.

Both VACA and Hickok serve the narrow professional agricultural market, catering to the grape, nut and tree fruit industries across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Hickok traces its roots to San Jose, California in the 1920s. In 1978 the Wells & Wade Company of Wenatchee brought the Hickok line to Washington to provide off-season balance to the bucket and bag business. Wells & Wade sold the Hickok line to Gordon Congdon in 1987. In the early 1990s Mike Simmons purchased Hickok from Congdon, formed Superior Fruit Equipment and acquired the Wells & Wade picking bag and bucket lines, finally reuniting the two companies in 1995. Superior also imports ARS, a line of professional tree and vine tools from Japan, and is a major distributor of Fanno Saws, rounding out a full line of professional orchard and vine care products The company currently operates out of the 27,000 square foot Wells & Wade building in Wenatchee, constructed in 1943. The VACA merger brings Superior to its growth limit in the current location and plans are underway for the construction of a new facility.