Black Gold Farms, an leader in Irish potato production based in Grand Forks, ND, recently acquired all facilities and real estate from Dawson Farms, a leading sweet potato grower located near Delhi, LA.

While Black Gold Farms has been growing sweet potatoes for four years for the processing industry, this acquisition will allow it to considerably expand its volume of processing potatoes as well as provide an entrance into the table stock sweet potato arena in a significant way.

"I'm really happy that Black Gold Farms is able to continue to grow what we've worked so hard to build," Lev Dawson, who started Dawson Farms in 1994, said in a press release. "Our people are excited about fitting into a company that shares a similar passion for production agriculture. This will be a great next chapter for the farm, and I am eager to embark on the next stage of my life as well, knowing Dawson Farms is in good hands."

"Our business model has always been to keep our eye out for growth opportunities when and where it makes sense," Gregg Halverson, president and chief executive officer of Black Gold Farms, added in the press release. "This acquisition complements not only our sweet potato acreage we now grow near Oak Grove, Louisiana, but it is a great complement to our red potato production in North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Texas. The Dawson Farms crew has built a great organization and production facility. We are excited to be able to incorporate the additional volume into the Black Gold Farms portfolio."

Jason Chandler, director of new crops at Black Gold Farms, who will oversee the operations at this location, added, "We are looking forward to taking what we have learned over the past few years with our sweet potato production in Oak Grove and add the Dawson Farms operation to the mix."

With the substantial increase in volume and the addition of packing facilities, Black Gold Farms will be adding several sweet potato products to retail and foodservice with boxes, RPCs and bags, as well as microwavable shrink-wrapped SKUs. Additional consumer packaging capabilities are being developed based on retail and consumer demand.

"With sweet potato consumption increasing, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to be able to leverage that trend," Glen Reynolds, director of national produce sales, added in the press release. "The addition will be a great asset to our existing product line of red potatoes and value-added potato products."

The Dawson Farms team in Louisiana is to join the Black Gold Farms Oak Grove, LA, team immediately.