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R.C. Hatton 1928 Founder |
Even though the Great Depression was in full swing in the early 1930s, people still needed to eat. And Robert C. Hatton did his part to feed those hungry people, when he founded his farm, R.C. Hatton, in 1932.
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R.C. Hatton 1928 Founder |
The farm produced sweet corn and beans, and grew over the years from a few hundred acres of row crops to its present size of six to seven thousand acres per year. Son Roger Hatton took over the business in the sixties and incorporated R.C. Hatton in 1964.
R.C. Hatton stands out as a farm that's survived and thrived for many years because of its willingness to try new ways of doing things. Today it uses a unique system to pack sweet corn into returnable plastic containers (RPCs) that co-owner Paul Allen says results in a top quality product.
Instead of harvesting and packing corn in the field, R.C. Hatton crews transport it in specially designed reinforced bins to the packinghouse, where it is packed in RPCs in controlled, indoor conditions. The corn is hydro-chilled to remove field heat and to keep its sugars from turning into starch. It is then stored in a climate-controlled warehouse, where supervisors inspect the RPC's to ensure they are closed and stacked properly for the trip to retail outlets.
R.C. Hatton also installed impressive new state-of-the art bean lines in Florida and Georgia where they also product a total of around 8000 acres of sweet corn and green beans per year retail and food service industry.
R.C Hatton Inc. is part owner of Performance Packaging LLC, which produces and sells value added Sweet Corn and Green Bean products to the retail and food service industry.
A GREAT PLACE TO WORK"
See Our Farm to School Program
Allen worked for the company for 15 years before becoming co-owner. He and Roger Hatton pool their talents and vision to keep R.C. Hatton in the forefront. "Roger enjoys future planning, and I most like the interaction with employees and other farmers," Allen said. The farm employs 20 people year round, and up to 250 in the spring. "The farm takes pride in that it has been known as a great place to work by its employees," said Allen.
RC. Hatton Farms is a certified food processing facility
and has received a prestigious 95% approval grade by
Primus Labs.