“We’re all about Georgia-grown products when in season,” said Andrew Scott, director of marketing and business development for the Nickey Gregory Co., which has a warehouse in Atlanta. “That logo tells people that we buy locally and we support the Georgia economy and farmers.”
Owner Nickey Gregory worked on a farm in his early days, with his family down in South Georgia and they moved up to Atlanta when he was very young.
“Georgia is important to us because it’s where Nickey is from and he’s been at the Atlanta Market since he was 5-years-old, and his family had a wholesale business on the market as well,” Scott said. “It’s great to be at the Atlanta State Farmers Market, especially with other wholesalers who you can lean on if you’re out of something.”
The Nickey Gregory Co. is real heavy on the foodservice side of the business, selling to wholesalers and foodservice companies, but it doesn’t do the last mile of selling to schools or restaurants as to not step on its customers’ toes.
“We are getting more and more into the retail business and working with independent retailers,” Scott said. “That will be a big focus for us this year and in the years to come as we try to diversify a little bit away from wholesalers.”
Being that Georgia is just a day away from a lot of growing regions on the East Coast, that makes the location a great one to do business and pick up customers.
Business in 2024 started off slow for the company, with January seeing less numbers than usual, but by March, things were back to normal and things were going well.
“With Easter being at the end of March, it turned out to be a really good month,” Scott said. “April has looked good. There was the California transition from south to north and they got through that. Overall, we’re ahead of last year.”
Last winter, Nickey Gregory Co. became incorporated, so that’s the newest news out of the company. It’s processed fresh foods division, Family Fresh Foods, is going strong and continues to increase production in just its sixth year of operation.
Looking at its upcoming season, Scott said there will be a strong peach crop this year, which is good news considering last year wiped out 90 percent of the crop due to a late freeze.
The company has been operating in a new, 105,000-square-foot building on the Atlanta State Farmers Market since 2020.
“It was completely renovated and it’s been going really well,” Scott said. “We also have another warehouse for our processing division, which is 40,000 square feet.”
The company recently ordered eight more box 10-wheel trucks with lift gates, and they are expected in July. These will be ready for when the company starts to delve into the retail business more.
“We also bought 11 new tractor trailers, so our growth is about investing back into the company,” Scott said.
