SNOW HILL, NC — The family firm, begun with 200 acres in 1975, is now 13,000 acres and growing “by leaps and bounds,” said Stacy Ham, vice president of Ham Produce Co., here. It now reaches from eastern North Carolina to a new pack and ship facility at Live Oak in northern Florida. It can store more than 13 million bushels of climate-controlled sweet potatoes.

Last year it shipped 50 percent more produce than in 2012, and this year it will ship 50 percent more than in 2013, Ham noted. And if corporations really were people, it could run for president — it’s almost 40 years old. Also known as Ham Farms, Ham Produce Co. grew up here in this rural town of 1,608. It has become a leading grower of sweet potatoes in the United States. And when you compare all growers of all crops, it’s 11th largest in the Southeast. Big, but nimble.

Stacy Ham credited her father, Bobby Ham, the company’s president, for developing partnerships that capitalize on consumer trends and lead to growth. Bobby Ham “spends most of his time figuring out how we can grow and sell more sweet potatoes,” his daughter said. He has expanded the farm’s physical facilities as its markets expanded, added packing and shipping to the growing operations, and moved into value-added products for today’s keep-it-simple-and-fast consumer.

Ham Produce added a sweet potato packing plant in 1992, then formed partnerships with Yamco and Covington Spirits to develop by-products from the Ham Farms signature item, sweet potatoes: vodka, puree to make beer, chips, crackers, and, now aging in casks, whiskey — not due to be tapped until 2017.

A new venture with a new subsidiary, Natural Blend Vegetable Dehydration of Farmville, NC, will open the huge potential of the pet food, animal feed and vegetable juice health drink markets. (See “Two new sweet potato dehydration facilities to open in North Carolina,” The Produce News, Sept. 22, 2014, page 2.) Natural Blend held the grand opening of its remodeled facility Sept. 30. “With this facility, we will be able to make use of every sweet potato we grow,” Stacy Ham said. Ham Produce invested $12 million in the facility, which will employ 57 workers.

The premium label sweet potato at Ham Produce is called “Ham’s Yams.” It comes in single-potato, plastic-wrapped, microwaveable servings; in bags holding three, five and 10 pounds; in cartons holding 10, 20 and 40 pounds; and in ready-to-display store containers.

It also offers four other labels with the size of the potatoes ranging from six to 24 ounces. For customers who want it, Ham Produce provides sweet potatoes with “Best Used By” dating.

Along the way, Al Ham, vice president for farming operations, kept the company certified in best practices: NC Certified Seed Producers; HACCP certification for good manufacturing practices; GlobalGAP certification for excellent production methods; CMI certification for Tesco NURTURE; GMP-certified packing facilities in North Carolina and Florida; energy and water conservation; recycled packaging; and product traceability, right down to the field the potatoes were grown in.