Southern Valley

A steady cycle of droughts and floods impacting farmlands across the globe is a reckoning for the agriculture industry to pivot toward sustainably produced food to feed a growing population.

This is where Southern Valley carves a unique niche with sustainable agricultural practices that improve soil health, increase food productivity, preserve ecosystems, and boost profitability. Southern Valley is a vertically integrated growing, packing, and shipping operation dedicated to providing the safest and highest quality produce to its customers.

A women-owned and family-operated firm, Southern Valley has been practicing sustainable farming for generations.

“Sustainability is the foundation of our operation and is woven into the fabric of our growing, packing, and shipping processes,” says Austin Hamilton, Director of Agriculture at Southern Valley.

It maintains soil quality with practices like reducing soil fumigation frequency by planting cover crops, no-till farming techniques, and utilizing crop rotation to maximize nutrients. These methods improve soil health, reduce insect and nematode infestation, limit soil erosion, and conserve wetlands.

At Southern Valley, seed to shelf is not just a catchphrase, it’s a definition of its capabilities. By owning and operating its farms and packaging facilities and maintaining an internal logistics team, it ensures the timely delivery of products for its customers across the U.S. and Canada.

“We are large enough to supply customers year-round with products grown and harvested in-house and nimble enough to evolve with their ever-changing needs,” says Hamilton.

Southern Valley primarily caters to retail and food service companies and provides an assortment of premium farm fresh vegetables, like Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Green Beans. It constantly leverages technology and innovation across its farms in Georgia, Tennessee, and the Yucatan province in Mexico. The Yucatan region is ideally suited for cultivation during the winter, while Tennessee’s growing season is during the summer months there, guaranteeing a year-round supply of products. For example, its signature produce, pole-grown cucumber, can be harvested in Georgia only between May and November. But the same can also be produced from December to April in the Yucatan region.

Food safety is at the core of Southern Valley’s farming operations. Its dedicated food safety team performs a thorough quality control process to ensure that all its produce meets regulatory requirements. Striving to make its employees, environment, farms, facilities, and business model as sustainable as possible, its packing houses and farms focus on low-impact energy use and utilize solar power in practical applications.

Southern Valley’s consistency and quality have earned it the reputation of a committed and dependable partner for clients. A member of the Southeast Produce Council, it emphasizes charity at a local, state, and national level, supporting a wide range of social initiatives, from Feeding America to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Its young family members have learned the art of farming from their predecessors and are eager to carry forward their legacy for generations to come.

“God has blessed us with a family who loves farming and loves relationships. Without God, none of this would be possible. Farming is not what we do—it is who we are. Our goal is to be good stewards of the business that our customers have awarded us. When a customer comes to us with a problem, no matter how big or small it may seem, we face it head-on and deliver efficient solutions,” says Hamilton.