There's a New Icon in Town

“It was a most tremendous looking animal and extremely hard to kill.” 

~Meriwether Lewis, May 5, 1805 

In the early 1800’s, Lewis and Clark forged a path into the unknown as they pioneered 8,000 miles across the American West. They made their way through our home state of Oregon in search of the Pacific ocean, and their journey brought struggles, trials, and many formidable characters…

In light of the spirit with which they stepped into this grand adventure, Barreto Manufacturing is excited to add an icon to our brand - one that exemplifies the extreme durability of our equipment and the tenacity with which we craft it.

This new frontier for Barreto establishes what we already know to be true about our company - we strive, we adapt, and we innovate. We pursue the growth that helps us continue to create world-class equipment; equipment that works for you and brings the best ROI the industry has to offer. Here’s to our loyal customers who have supported us over the past 41 years. May we all embrace the spirit of grit and determination represented in our new grizzly bear counterpart.

DURABLE. TOUGH. ICONIC.

Grizzlies are unmistakable apex predators that live and thrive in the most extreme forest conditions. They command respect not only due to their size and power, but through their calm, direct, and defined presence. Like the grizzly bear, Barreto is a brand that has the power and the presence to influence its environment while remaining a respected player in the industry landscape.

ICON CHARACTERISTICS

Tough, durable, resilient, rugged, strong, direct, and enduring. The bear is looking directly at the observer – straight-shooting like our company values and our founder – Greg Barreto. It is a symbol of our infamous strength and durability, partly inspired by a quote brought to our attention by Greg himself: 

“It was a most tremendous looking animal and extremely hard to kill.” ~Meriwether Lewis, May 5, 1805 

Not only is our equipment beautifully engineered, it’s formidable in action. This journal excerpt from the Lewis and Clark expedition is profoundly connected to our ethos as a company and the durability of our products. We regularly encounter customers sharing photos of their equipment still going strong in the field twenty, sometimes thirty-plus years later. This extreme durability is the key to the incredible success seen by our proud customers and our own business. It takes a lot to kill a Barreto.

This icon joins our classic logo and brand style, and while there’s more to come, here’s a little history from Greg on how our original “Barreto” logo came to be.

It was 1984, and Greg decided to take his all-hydraulic tiller to market. First, he needed a name and a logo to attach to it. 

“In the early years of business,” he says, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” So, Greg sourced information from family and other trusted voices in the business world. His brother-in-law ran a successful marine equipment business in Gold Beach, OR, so he reached out to him and his wife to gather graphic design recommendations. “We relied a lot on Bo and Kathy back then, for this logo work and especially when it came to figuring out overseas shipping.”

Greg and his wife, Chris, traveled to Portland, Oregon where they met the designer and started brand conversations. Greg laughs, remembering the designer as a “free-spirit living in downtown Portland” who, after some thought, recommended that Greg stick to using his last name of “Barreto” for the company name. After all, he was the founder, it was a good, strong name, so really, why wouldn’t you use it?

“We went with the first shot of the design - he designed it, and we ran with it,” he said. They wasted no time and quickly settled on the first version of the logo.

“Innovation” was an important emphasis for Greg and something he remains laser-focused on, so the original motto of “Innovative Equipment Engineered to Last” was born. This motto has centered our brand since the very first letterhead was published. 

“As a matter of fact, when I was thinking about the tiller, I also really wanted to do a trencher because they were so popular at that time, and folks were having issues with existing designs.” He started by designing the tiller and next began work on a trencher - kickstarting the development of the line of equipment our customers choose from today.

“Innovation” is the heart of what we do here at Barreto Manufacturing. We have proudly sported our classic logo for over 40 years, and just as Greg’s gaze remains locked onto innovation in our products, we are excited to introduce this latest addition to our branding.

The grizzly bear is connected to our collective passion for the great outdoors, and it embodies adventure and resilience – a timeless and classic mindset that we esteem and strive to employ in our people and our products. 

LET'S ADVENTURE ON.