Berrier Farms of Cana, VA Receives Wayne Scott Memorial Grower of the Year Award

Berrier Farms of Cana, VA Receives Wayne Scott Memorial Grower of the Year Award
Abingdon, VA. - Friday, Mar 10, 2017.

Food City is well-known for their locally grown produce initiative.  Through a partnership with local farmers, the supermarket chain is able to offer their customers fresh-from-the-field fruits and vegetables during local growing seasons.  Many items are delivered directly from the farm to the store the same day they are picked.  What began over ten years ago with a small number of items, supplied by a handful of area farmers has now grown into a multi-million dollar operation.  Today, Food City purchases an average of $6,000,000 annually in fresh produce from local growers.

“We pride ourselves in selecting the best possible products for our customers,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.  “Our local farms are known for producing some of the finest products in the country.  Buying locally is the logical choice.  It provides our customers with the freshest produce possible, while lending additional support to our local economies.  In many instances, our locally grown produce arrives at the store the same day it was picked.  It simply doesn’t get any fresher than that”.

In 2007, Food City created the Wayne Scott Memorial Grower of the Year Award.  The award is named in honor of Unicoi County farmer Wayne Scott, one of the first to partner with the retail supermarket chain.  Wayne Scott’s leadership, passion for the business and dedication to delivering the “best produce possible” are just a few of the reasons for his tremendous success.  The award recognizes one outstanding grower each year. 

“Scott Farms was among the first to partner with our company and Scott’s Strawberries continue to be one of our most sought after products,” says Smith.  “Wayne Scott was one of the finest, most honorable men I have ever had the privilege of doing business with.  We thought it befitting to honor his memory and dedication to the agricultural industry with this annual award”.

Ricky Berrier of Cana Virginia’s Berrier Farms was named this year’s award recipient.  As a 6th generation grower, Berrier is cultivating the same land where his great-great-great grandfather planted the first crop in 1853.  He began picking crops in a sand pail as a little boy and graduated to metal buckets - splitting a weekly paycheck of $15 with his older brother.  Berrier spent his summers picking crops of the mornings and stapling cardboard boxes every afternoon.  He worked in the packing house each fall, loading 40-pound bushel boxes onto the family's one-ton Chevrolet truck. On occasion, he would stay up late to ride with his grandfather to the produce warehouse in Winston-Salem, NC.  They would deliver the crop just after midnight so local buyers could choose from among the freshest produce the next morning. The midnight rides proved to be a great adventure for Berrier and the perfect opportunity to absorb his Papa's priceless bits of wisdom - and he often got a free breakfast out of the deal as well.

After graduating college, Berrier taught school until 1998, when an opportunity arose to partner with his father, Ralph Berrier in their thriving orchard business.  Hoping to expand the operation from their “apples only” base, he quickly set about establishing peach orchards on the farm as well.  Ralph Berrier has long been acknowledged as one of the premier apple growers in the region.  He continues to share his skills, labor and fatherly advice with his family today.  Berrier’s wife and daughters also play a major role in the family farm’s continued success.

Food City is proud to have partnered with Berrier Farms since 2005, to provide their loyal customers with locally grown, fresh from the farm peaches, Gala, Ginger Gold, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious Apples.  Berrier says Food City's support of local growers has been pivotal to the farm's success, by providing a tremendous outlet to share their bounty with apple aficionados throughout Southwest Virginia, Tennessee and neighboring states.

Food City purchases produce from a number of local farms, including those in Grainger, Blount, Hawkins, Unicoi, Jefferson and Sullivan counties in Tennessee; Scott and Carroll counties and through Appalachian Harvest co-op for locally grown organics from the growers in Scott County, Virginia.

“We enjoy a great partnership with a variety of local farms,” comments Bucky Slagle, director of produce operations for Food City.  “And we are proud to be the exclusive retail outlet for a number of them and of course our customers love the added convenience,” says Slagle.
 
Food City purchases a wide variety of items from local growers, including tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, cabbage, half runner beans, okra, peppers, squash, gourds, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons, blackberries, strawberries, pears, raspberries, select organic produce and more. 

 

Pictured above (left to right)
Bucky Slagle, Food City Director of Produce Operations
Berrier Family, Award Winners
Steve Smith, Food City President/CEO



Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 135 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia.