Farm Pak celebrates 'golden' anniversary

Celebrating 50 Years in the Sweetpotato Industry

Farm Pak Products, Inc., the marketing arm of Barnes Farming Corporation, is proud to celebrate 50 years of successfully meeting and exceeding customer expectations in an increasingly competitive and challenging sweetpotato industry.

Carson Barnes established the company in 1969, to sell sweetpotatoes grown and packed by Barnes Farming Corporation in Spring Hope, North Carolina. During the 1970’s, the company pioneered marketing fresh sweetpotatoes along the East Coast.

Johnny Barnes became President in 2012 and has grown the organization to incorporate fresh watermelons and value-added sweetpotato products, such as, microwave-wrapped sweetpotatoes and prepackaged mesh bags. The company has also added a full line of organic sweetpotatoes and new varieties, including Murasaki and Evangeline, to meet the changing tastes of consumers.

“As the company kept growing in size and became more and more successful, our packing facility demands increased until we couldn’t accommodate our orders,” said sales manager Jose Calderon. “We now have 4 packing lines to be able to meet our customer’s orders with the right specifications at the right time. We also have added plenty of temperature-controlled space to house all of our palletized sweetpotatoes prior to shipment so our customers receive top-quality produce.”

Today, Farm Pak remains a family-owned business with Josh Barnes bringing on the third generation to the farm as the Storage and Greenhouse Manager. The company continues to specialize in the marketing of fresh market sweetpotatoes grown in Eastern North Carolina to markets all over the world the strongest being the United Kingdom and European Union.

Looking back on the past 50 years of owning the company, Johnny Barnes smiles at how far Farm Pak has come in the business world. “This was a farm started on 3/8” of an acre and now we are selling sweetpotatoes all over the world from right here in our hometown!”

Farm Pak has exciting plans for the near future including a redesigned website and brand-new logo, so keep an eye on us over the next several months and check us out on Facebook or Instagram to stay up-to-date.