Black Gold Farms Expands Sweet Potato Production With Acquisition of Dawson Farms
March 12, 2014 Black Gold Farms, an industry leader in Irish potato production, has recently acquired a significant amount of sweet potato acreage. This acquisition includes all facilities and real estate from Dawson Farms, presently the largest sweet potato grower in the mid-south, located near Delhi, LA.
While Black Gold Farms has been growing sweet potatoes for four years for the processing industry, this acquisition will allow them to considerably expand their volume of processing potatoes, as well as provide an entrance into the table stock sweet potato arena in a significant way.
Lev Dawson, who started Dawson Farms in 1994 stated, “I’m really happy that Black Gold Farms is able to continue to grow what we’ve worked so hard to build. Our people are excited about fitting into a company that shares a similar passion for production agriculture. This will be a great next chapter for the farm, and I am eager to embark on the next stage of my life as well, knowing Dawson Farms is in good hands.” The Dawson Farms Delhi, LA team will join the Black Gold Farms Oak Grove, LA team immediately.
Gregg Halverson, president and CEO of Black Gold Farms commented, “Our business model has always been to keep our eye out for growth opportunities when and where it makes sense. This acquisition complements not only our sweet potato acreage we now grow near Oak Grove, LA, but it is also is a great complement to our red potato production in North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Texas. The Dawson Farms’ crew has built a great organization and production facility. We are excited to be able to incorporate the additional volume into the Black Gold Farms portfolio.”
Jason Chandler, director of New Crops at Black Gold Farms, will be overseeing the operations at this location, and stated “We are looking forward to taking what we have learned over the past few years with our sweet potato production in Oak Grove and add the Dawson Farms operation to the mix.”
With the substantial increase in volume and addition of packing facilities, Black Gold Farms will be adding several sweet potato products to retail and food service with boxes, RPCs and bags, as well as microwavable shrink-wrapped SKUs. Additional consumer packaging capabilities are being developed based on retail and consumer demand.
“With sweet potato consumption increasing, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to be able to leverage that trend. The addition will be a great asset to our existing product line of red potatoes and value-added potato products,” remarked Glen Reynolds, director of national produce sales.
For more information or further details relating to the Black Gold Farms retail or food service sweet potato program contact Glen Reynolds of Black Gold Farms at 336-760-1453.
Source: Black Gold news release
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