Doing business in what’s known as The Mushroom Capital of the World, Kennett Square, PA-based Phillips Mushroom Farms is one of the largest growers of specialty mushrooms in the area.

“Phillips Mushroom Farms has been growing mushrooms in Kennett Square since 1927,” said Sean Steller, director of business development for the company. “Initially, mushrooms were distributed at markets and not transported very far due to perishability and lack of refrigeration. The industry has come a long way in just the last few decades.”

With a short six-week window that starts in mid-June, North Carolina potato growers produce approximately 16,000 acres of potatoes annually, making it one of the state’s most important crops in the summertime.

Helping in the success — year after year — is the North Carolina Potato Association, which was formed in 1928 and is the oldest commodity association in North Carolina. 

Naturipe Farms is a grower-owned producer of wholesome, good-for-you fresh berries, nurtured by working family farmers. The company has been growing berries since 1917 and has built a strong community of farms that produce the berries for the Naturipe brand.

North Carolina is home to some of the finest farmers in the United States, assisted by the outstanding efforts of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, which works to ensure that growers in the state have all they can to be successful.

The climate and soil of North Carolina makes it the ideal ground for a variety of produce items.

Rick McCranie has recently joined Moultrie GA-based Producers Marketing and is getting the company poised for big things ahead.

“We’re an old company that has been around for a long time, but it’s recently taken on a new type of role,” he said. “Producers was started in the 80s and had a co-op of farmers, and one of the big farmers was Aldine Hart.”

That farm is now run by Scott Hart, son of Aldine.

Consalo Family Farms is a vertically integrated grower, packer, shipper, importer, and distributor and has been in the produce industry since 1927. The family-run company grows a full line of produce in New Jersey.