Food Chain - Issue 203 - December 2024 | Page 145

_________________________________________________________________________________ Homegrown Family Food
of course our people . Our folks are highly motivated , self-starters and we ’ ve been blessed on that front , so keeping our people happy is paramount to our success .”
Jack and his father ’ s experience in both the food industry and background in private equity has been integral to the successful integrations of these acquisitions , along with the support and expertise of the organization ’ s executives and board of directors . “ My plate is full with the day-to-day business , but it has been really fun being able to evaluate deals with my dad as they come up . We both like to get deep in the weeds as far as due diligence and evaluation , and although we both start with our own process , most times we end up at the same answer .” With the acquisition of Summit Hill Foods , Homegrown needed an additional facility close to the existing business in Georgia , which would allow it to hire from the local talent pool . “ We found one but actually thought it was too much space ,” adds Jack . “ That said , we figured we could grow into it , and we ’ ve done exactly that in a relatively short period of time . Our facilities currently tend to act as distribution centers , but we do carry out some light manufacturing in North Carolina . There is opportunity for us to move to in-house manufacturing in the Rome , Georgia facility in 2025 but we ’ re still evaluating which products might be the best fit for those lines and that location .”
Strategic growth
Preempting that development , the company has recently increased investments in food safety , as well as research and development capabilities . “ This enables us to look at
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