“We have such a strong presence in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Montreal and New Brunswick and with these latest additions, it strengthens our stronghold on the Eastern Seaboard,” said Eric Scannelli, COO of Hapco Farms. “This allows us to continue to provide our customers with freshest of quality while at the same time giving our customers the ability to cover shorts and allowing customers to be at zero inventory at the end of the day.”

New entity in Massachusetts
The packing facility is a new venture with Hadley, MA-based Valley Spud, whereby the two companies are collaborating to form a new company called Barnwood Valley Farms LLC. This new venture went into effect in early July and is based in Hadley, MA.

Starting immediately, Barnwood Valley Farms will be packing local potatoes in addition to working directly with up to 20 local farms in the valley to distribute their produce to Northeast retailers and wholesalers. Hapco Farms has been doing business in this area for more than 40 years and has long-term retailer relationships that will make the distribution process seamless and efficient.

Along with vast farmable acreage, Barnwood Valley Farms will have a full packing facility on site, as well as greenhouses that will be used to grow seeds for transplants, a process that is usually outsourced. These plants will then be harvested and replanted across their East Coast operations, giving Barnwood Valley Farms full control of the process from seed to harvest. Initially, seeds that will be planted in these greenhouses include broccoli, cauliflower and onions.

Another benefit that Barnwood Valley Farms will bring to the area is crop rotation, according to Scannelli, who said this land that primarily grew potatoes will now be growing other items.

“We are here for the long haul and want to introduce new commodities to this area,” he said. “The crop rotation will not only diversify commodity availability, it will also produce healthier crops overall and increase yields."

Colin Szawlowski, a fifth-generation family member at Valley Spuds, said his family has been doing business in the valley for more than 100 years and is excited to partner with Hapco Farms and get the region’s fresh produce out to the market.

“With our growing history in the area and Hapco’s longstanding relationships, we are expecting this to be a successful partnership,” said Szawlowski.

Florida expansion
In the second development, Hapco announced that it will open a new carrot and onion facility in December that is located just 30 miles from its current facility in O’Brien, FL, bringing production of those two commodities closer to the company’s customers.

According to Scannelli, Hapco has been growing carrots in Mexico and Canada for 30 years and made the decision to start growing these items domestically.

“The demand for carrots has been on the rise, and part of our overall mission is to continue to expand our growing opportunities domestically, closer to our Northeast customers,” he said, adding that Hapco will also be growing and packing yellow and red onions at this location, a core commodity for the company.

The new facility will be packing one-, two-, three- and five-pound carrot bags in the Fresh from the Start label or private label.

“This new facility is being built primarily for these new crops, with state-of-the-art equipment specifically for these commodities,” said Andrew Fagan, Director of Operations at ADS Management, parent company of Hapco Farms. “It will be a busy few months, but we are excited to add another packing facility for our customers.”

Scannelli said these moves represent the first steps of many toward future expansion that will set the stage for continued growth over the next 25-30 years.

“The fact that we are investing in these areas shows we are committed to the economic well-being of these regions,” said Scannelli. “We will be hiring local residents, which will benefit the local economies all while giving us the opportunity to better service our customers with the high-quality products that consumers have come to expect from Hapco Farms.”