Posted by B Farms

Bailey Farms: Sharing a Passion for Peppers

Bailey Farms:  Sharing a Passion for Peppers

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Bailey Farms is able to produce high quality, fresh specialty peppers, because they control every part of the supply chain, from the vine all the way to delivery at a retailer’s warehouse.  President and owner Randy Bailey was inspired by his father’s dream to farm.

 

Although a chemist, Randy’s father was passionate about farming and he farmed on the side in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  “Some bad luck forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1989.  He and I joined forces and we salvaged just the bare minimum farm equipment needed from the auction to start farming, again.”

 

Only 21 years old when the first crop was planted, Randy had the insight to pursue his own passion, as well.  He had fallen in love with spicy Mexican food and he decided that they’d focus on growing and marketing hot peppers.  It was a small operation in the beginning, just a few acres.  “We were delivering the peppers in pick-up trucks at that time.”

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Fulfilling a Family Legacy

 

The business history is a family history.  Randy had grown up working on the farm with his siblings.  He had been able to witness as a teen what didn’t work in this industry and he also noticed others who were flourishing.  His father, however, was the role model who “instilled in me the drive and taught us to earn our money.”  Married in 1996, Randy’s wife, Debbie, has been another major influence.  She encouraged him to grow the business and take risks.  Debbie also takes care of office management as well as bookkeeping, while Randy handles operations, customers, new products and financials.

 

An unfortunate turning point was the death of Randy’s father in a farm accident in 2002.  “That motivated me, even more, to make this business succeed, to become the leading supplier of our products in the East.”

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Randy talks peppers to a tour group at the farm.

There have been many hurdles to overcome, from “recovering from Dad’s death to financing and controlling the rapid growth spurts of the business, the challenges of adapting to having middle management, regulatory issues, bankruptcy of a major supplier, and a large debt load, incurred recently, to increase efficiency and secure supply.”  The company, however, has now grown 35 times the size that it was in 1999.

 

Randy never went to business school or studied management, “but from working on the farm, I was taught to figure things out and not give up.”  He utilized advisors, when needed, engaging business consultants from GPS to deal with increased tax liability, along with some challenges regarding labor and organizational structure, among other issues.

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It’s all been about preserving a hard-earned family tradition; Randy’s son, Ryan, will be the third generation at Bailey Farms.  Not yet in grade school, Ryan joins his parents in the office a day or two a week, the family dog, tagging along.  It is a dream realized.

 

BellaFina—Perfectly Proportioned Petite Peppers

 

One of Bailey Farms’ largest success stories is actually pretty small, as in the launch of the BellaFina product line of miniature Bell peppers, which has become the company’s number two top seller in just three short years.

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According to Randy, the BellaFina was a product that they started from scratch.  “The peppers were specifically bred to mature at 1/3rd the size of a regular Bell pepper and to be grown in an open field rather than a greenhouse, allowing the BellaFina to offer a good value proposition within the category.”

 

These delicious tiny peppers mean less waste for the individual consumer when preparing meals that require red, yellow or green Bell peppers.  Additionally, the peppers offer a retail price point lower than any other color pepper (due to the less expensive method of growing them) with the same sweet flavor, crunchy texture, and vitamins and nutrients—they’re a great source of vitamin C—as full sized peppers.

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Follow Your Passion and Never Work a Day in Your Life

 

The Bailey Farms story has been the ultimate turn-around tale, from bankruptcy to becoming the region’s leading supplier and distributor of specialty pepper to retail chains, delivering a superior level of quality and service.  The business went from a few acres in North Carolina in 1989, producing only during the summer months, to multiple farms today in North Carolina and Florida, offering produce year-round.  Besides peppers, Bailey Farms, offers tomatillos, the ‘Mexican green tomato,’ another big seller; as well as a line of all-natural, award winning hot sauces, which are available nationally through their expanding online presence.  Bailey Farms continues to grow, because they continue to innovate.  It’s not just a business, it’s their passion!

 

 

 

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Posted by B Farms

Power of Peppers!

Bellafina

 

Okay, okay… I know this may be a surprise BUT really it’s true!

Did you know that Jalapeño’s actually have more Vitamin C then an orange! And a red Jalapeño has more Vitamin A then a carrot. Who would a thunk, huh!

 

It really is amazing the nutritional benefits that chili peppers offer.

Trying to lose weight?? Aren’t we all? But hot peppers have been proven to boost metabolism. Now, I’m not saying that its a cure all, but hey can’t hurt, and if you like heat, well all the better right?

Also, if you can take the heat, the hotter the pepper the higher the antioxidant level.

“The more capsaicin, the hotter the pepper, and the higher the antioxidant level,” says Malena Perdermo, MS, RD, CDE, affiliate professor of nutrition in the health professions department at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.

But, if you are not a chili head, no worries. Colored bell peppers like our Bellafina Baby Bells are also an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins A and C, B6 as well as a good source of fiber. So, not only are they sweet to eat but GOOD for you too!

They are low calorie snacks, that taste great and satisfy your hunger.

To go along with these fab benefits, it has also been shown that countries that eat a higher amount of capsaisium, they have less incidents of strokes and it tends to improve circulation.

These are just a few of the benefits that peppers provide. If you like the heat or not….it’s ok. They both offer great health benefits!

 

Posted by B Farms

Numero Uno!!

HI! To any of you that are reading this, WELCOME to our new website and blog! We are excited to have this new and improved site. If you went on our old site you are probably well aware of our abundance of recipes we have collected over the years.  Well , rest assured that they are getting moved over to the new site. PLUS some new ones!

For our first edition, we wanted to share some pic’s about the farm. We are excited for this new year and new crops! Crops are already looking good at our Florida farm

2013 Florida crop pics

 

We are already heading to your local stores with jalapeno’s and habaneros to our Bellafina mini bells!!

2013 Florida Habanero

 

^ Habaneros! HOT HOT HOT

2013 Bellafina

 

^Bellafina mini bells SWEET SWEET SWEET

We will be growing in Florida till May ( hopefully the weather will allow)  and then we will be back to North Carolina!

We hope that you enjoy our products. We try to do our best to give you what you want from “seed to shelf”. Please bare with us as we learn the “blogging” thing. We have some great ideas we want to share and to let everyone know as Marvin Gaye said it ”  What’s going on .. What’s going on. ( You sang that didn’t you? )

Please feel free to share and let us know what you think of our stuff .

Thanks to all! and stay tuned for more to come!