Titan Farms, a Ridge Spring, S.C., peach grower, announced its expansion into the fruit and vegetable processing landscape through a new processing facility. The operation will be a sister company to Titan Farms under the name of Palmetto Processing Solutions.

The combination of the two companies brings complete control of its supply chain from field to packaging. In 2016 alone, Palmetto Processing expects to process over 10 million pounds of peaches, produced in puree and frozen formats for individually-quick frozen (IQF) and bulk.

The company broke ground on the $8 million, state-of-the-art processing facility in December 2015, and expects to complete the 65,000-square-foot expansion by the start of peach season in May.

“We initially began exploring this opportunity in our quest to be more sustainable as a company,” says Lori Anne Carr, president of Palmetto Processing and vice president of Titan Farms. “Before deciding to proceed in this direction, we explored other options such as renewable energy and composting, and found that product line expansion into processing was our best business decision. We truly have a passion for being environmentally conscious in our operations and look forward to continually improving our sustainability.”

“We noticed a shrinking supply of western peaches in the market at the same time the demand for processed fruits and vegetables increased,” adds Chalmers Carr, president of Titan Farms. “We are already running the largest peach operation on the east coast, and we see processing as a natural fit and next step.”