PLANT CITY, FL - Family-owned and operated Astin Farms, is continuing to expand its operations on the heels of a recent 200-acre farmland acquisition in Plant City, Florida.
Astin is a fairly young company when compared to many in our industry, but has already begun to make its mark since the company began in 2001. Recently the company added 10,000 square-feet of refrigerated cold storage space and two new cooling units to address the growth of Astin’s conventional and organic strawberry program.
“This new expansion will now allow us to pre-cool around 13,000 cases at a time. Having increased, efficient pre-cooling capacity will significantly improve the overall quality of the fruit,” Shawn Pollard, Sales Manager, tells me. “This new state-of-the-art addition along with our growing acreage, is testament to the growth and success of Astin Strawberry Exchange.”
The new cooling space is slated to be up and running by mid-December.
Shawn started with the company during its entry into the industry in 2001 and is nothing short of ecstatic about Astin’s evolution. “We started with a few hundred acres and now our operations encompass about 1,350 acres. It is an amazing company to be a part of,” Shawn adds.
In addition, Astin will have 160 acres of blueberries this spring and just recently planted another 100 as they look to grown the program. Astin produces over 40 million pounds of fruit each season which is sold across the United States with some exported to Canada.
Keep an eye out for Astin strawberries as the program continues to grow its market share in the strawberry category.
