Wayne E. Baily Produce Co. will highlight consistency in sweet potato sizes at the Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice Conference & Exposition in Monterey, CA, July 20-22.

Wayne E. Bailey is a major foodservice supplier of sweet potatoes for menu items like sliced grilled sweet potatoes.George Wooten, president of Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co. in Chadbourn, NC, told The Produce News that the company’s exhibition booth, number 51, will be manned by Ronnie Mercer and Michelle Jacobs, sales and marketing representatives.

“I will also be there to greet attendees,” said Mr. Wooten. “Wayne E. Bailey has a major footprint as a foodservice supplier of sweet potatoes, and we actually do more business in foodservice than we do in retail. We attribute our strength in the foodservice industry to our pioneer sizing program so that operators can be guaranteed consistency on the plate.

“In addition, we have put together a national logistics and distribution program so that major chain restaurants, broad line operators and independently owned operations have consistent access to our products with greater efficiencies,” he added.

Sweet potato size consistency will be a major part of what Wayne E. Bailey will promote at the PMA expo. He said that every foodservice operator is looking at serving costs, healthy ingredients and great flavor to help lure patrons and keep them coming back. The company is exemplary at filling all of those needs, he said.

“We have one packingline that is totally dedicated to foodservice,” said Mr. Wooten. “It runs two shifts a day, five days a week. We’re also able to offer private labeling and year-round contracts, and for foodservice operations these have become important components.”

Wayne E. Bailey offers more than only staple cartons of sweet potatoes today. It has expanded its line with unique items that can liven up menus.

“We offer sweet potato fingerlings and sweet potato leaves,” said Mr. Wooten, “and we are also promoting the value-added offerings in our processed division. In 2012 we have expanded our value-added line of fresh products to include rutabaga, butternut squash and turnips.”

Wayne E. Bailey was formed by the firm’s namesake in 1935. Mr. Wooten has been involved with the company since 1967, when his widowed mother remarried the founder’s son, Elroy Bailey. Since then the company has grown consistently larger every year, and is now recognized as a leading sweet potato grower, processor, marketer and shipper.

“We expanded our acreage again this year and now have about 5,000 acres of our own production,” said Mr. Wooten. “Combined with our grower-partners, we’re now marketing close to 10,000 acres of sweet potatoes. And we’re just about to finish a new storage facility, which, when completed, will push us to the three million-bushel mark that we can handle at one time.”

The company is not the only thing that is growing for the Wooten family. Mr. Wooten’s sons, Adam and George III, joined their father in overseeing the company’s operations several years ago. Adam’s wife, Megan, works in administration. In April of this year she gave birth to a son, Sullivan Kissam Wooten.

“Kissam is my wife’s maiden name, and Adam’s middle name,” Mr. Wooten explained. “The Kissam family has a long history in Huntington, Long Island, New York. In a different branch, one of the Kissam family members married Cornelius Vanderbilt.”

The Wayne E. Bailey office is also frequently brightened with visits by other Wooten grandchildren: preschooler Grace Anne and toddler Augustus.

The Wooten family and their companies are strongly involved in the community and in their church. They support America’s Second Harvest, Feed the Children, the Society of St. Andrew, Operation Blessing, Columbus Christian Academy of Whiteville, NC, and several other organizations.

“We have been blessed and feel a real need to give back,” said Mr. Wooten