Baker Farms new packaged premium Georgia greens a hit at retail
Baker Farms new packaged premium Georgia greens a hit at retail
With premium greens booming in produce departments across America, last year Joe and Richard Baker decided to leverage 40 years of family experience in producing that crop year-round in Norman Park, GA, with the opening of a new state-of-the-art packaging facility and the introduction of their own value-added line.
The reception has been excellent and demand has grown quickly. It’s a big leap from 40 years ago, when Terry Baker planted a few acres of land in central Georgia with cabbage and some Southern vegetables. His sons Joe and Richard started helping out. Before long, Baker Family Farms was a growing entity and by the time the decision was made to launch the private label, was farming 3,000 acres and shippig 1.3 million boxes of premium bunch mixed greens.
Red kale from Baker Farms. (Photo courtesy of Baker Farms)
But some things don’t change. Joe and Richard Baker have the same dedication to the land they work and live on that their father did. They still believe in controlling a crop from greenhouse seed production to store shelf. And they still put health and safety above all else.
The Bakers are particularly proud of Primus GFS Superior ratings for all its fields and facilities with an aggregate score above 98.
“It’s at the forefront of it for sure,” Joe Baker said. “You don’t want your family eating anything that could be dangerous in any way. You want to make sure there’s a process in place to make sure that our products are not only safe, but are also the grade we expect. Our HACCP and food-safety program came not only from best practices, but out of a concern for overall health. We wouldn’t feed our families anything but the highest quality product here and we’re able to do that.”
The new processing facility came online in September with multiple lines and the capacity to produce 130 tons of ice on the premises daily to ensure quality, freshness and safety.
It has also led Baker Farms to introduce its own value-added label at retail. While the company still welcomes all comers from retail, wholesale and food service for bulk or private label packing, “we’re moving heavily into the processing side of it,” said Sales and Marketing Director Tommy Collinsworth. “We feel like that’s where the market’s trending. There’s a demand for it and retailers’ options have been limited. We’re going to give these customers another choice at a level of quality they may not have had 12-month access to previously.”
