“So far, from what I’ve seen and heard, what’s coming up domestically out of Florida looks nice — bright color and good Brix,” he said in early May.
Wada Farms is known for its potatoes and sweet potatoes, but Brown said the company added watermelons when several co-packers who grow the summertime favorite asked about expanding to include watermelons. Brown said Wada Farms packs and ships sweet potatoes year-round, and watermelons are a complementary packing line crop, even during the busy summer months.
“It works out very well for us,” he said. “If we’ve got a customer who wants just four or five bins, we can throw that on with their sweet potato order.”
Wada Farms’ watermelon program started in North Carolina and has grown with a strategic alliance of growers and co-packers. The company started it as a niche program in North Carolina, but it has become a strategic alliance of growers/partners in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Delaware, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas
The 2024-25 North Carolina sweet potato season has been marked by lower supplies, with excessive rains, followed by a dry spell. The weather, however, did not affect watermelon production or shipping, Brown said.
“I think you’ll start much more demand in the next week or two,” Brown said about watermelons. “With Memorial Day coming up, you’ll start seeing a good demand.”
Wada Farms sources mini melons when customers request them, but they are a niche item for the company, he said. Most of the company’s watermelons are packed in bins, ranging from 36-, 45- and 60-count bins, Brown said.
