Magnolia Vegetable Processors
334-536-0687
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT US
& Our Local Farmers
Why We Formed —
Our mission is to establish a sustainable market for our vegetable farmers and specialty brands by creating efficiencies in procurement and processing. Our vision is to cultivate opportunities for the next generation of Alabama farmers and niche brands through coordinated efforts, resources and advocacy across the supply chain network.
“Alabama’s roots are in agriculture, so food processing operations are a natural way to grow the state’s economy.” (Source)
— Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce
Getting Started
Magnolia Vegetable Processors (MVP) was formed off the coattails of Southern Classic Food Group (SCFG), a food manufacturing and packing company located across the street from our brand new 66,000 square foot manufacturing facility. SCFG began operations in 2001 with a group of veteran food industry associates and has grown significantly each year since. Chuck Caraway, who manages both companies, has considered pickled products and salsa over the years but knew the SCFG facility wouldn't be the right fit for the volumes of products requested by interested customers. So, he decided to build a new one.
Brundidge, Alabama has served as the home for multiple food manufacturing and processing facilities over the course of its existence and remains a supportive launch pad for the food industry. In fact, the city of Brundidge invested $1.2 million in this project by purchasing 222 acres of land adjacent to SCFG — the site for the new Magnolia Vegetable Processors. The city has also worked with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to provide water and sewer to the property.
“This will help the financial stability of the city for years to come.”
Jimmy Ramage, Former Mayor of Brundidge
MVP will produce pickled products, salsas and other food products for the retail, foodservice and industrial markets. Similar to SCFG's approach to the dressing and sauce business, MVP's target market is niche and specialty products for smaller brands. According to a Nielsen report entitled "Think Smaller for Big Growth", consumer trends have increasingly favored niche retailers over the past decade with a projected 6.8% annual growth rate for natural/gourmet stores between 2015 and 2020. Unlike large manufacturers, our facility was designed to provide flexibility for our customers so that their lower volume specialty items can grow within the marketplace. Our seasoned team brings the experience necessary to efficiently manage shorter production runs for smaller brands' unique and gourmet products.
We want to provide a sustainable market for farmers and customers alike. We want to support local agriculture and encourage the next generation of farmers. We want to catalyze smaller brands and cultivate diverse opportunities for our community and economy.
Let's grow together.
Let's grow together.
We want to build as many long-term relationships as we can with local farmers who are willing to grow the items we need.
We want farmers to know they can deal directly with us at MVP. We are working to develop a synergistic network of growers who we can depend on and who can equally depend on us. By planning and working together, we can mitigate the risk of surplus for our farmers while securing locally grown fresh ingredients for our customers and their specialty products. Furthermore, by establishing our own local vegetable "buying center" through relationships with farmers (who are close enough to visit), we will inherently be taking a more hands-on approach in purchasing our raw ingredients, which further ensures our production of high quality finished goods.
