I grew my first carrots in 1972. 300# pounds of carrots packed into 2# Matanuska Maid Coop bags and sold to the local grocery stores via Palmer Produce. Marketing produce was less complicated in those days and teenage farmers were common. As I got older I added zucchini squash and lettuce to my product mix. In 1976 I left farming for college followed by a career in Real Estate sales. In 1986 I returned to the farm and picked up where I left off, growing primarily lettuce and cabbage with just a few summer squash and carrots. In 1989 a friend who owned a vegetable processing plant asked if I would grow carrots for him. It was a wonderful opportunity that led me to specialize in carrots. Working with Pioneer Processing we provided tons of carrot sticks to the Anchorage and Mat-Su School District and shredded lettuce to Taco Bell and shredded cabbage to Kentucky Fried Chicken. A few years down the line I increased my carrot acreage again and started supplying carrots to Wolverine Farm to help them meet the huge demand there was for their excellent product. By 2004 both my business associates had retired and I had to find a new market for my carrots and this is when Pam’s Carrots was born.
The produce market in 2004 was considerably different then it had been when I started back in 1972. With the help of Palmer Produce I was able to get in the stores but the competition was stiff and sales were slow. I focused on the taste of my carrots and strove to provide the best quality product possible. Over time both the consumers and stores came to realize that this product was different. Today my problem is different. The demand for Pam’s Carrots far exceeds what I can produce.
Pam’s Carrots is a wholesale grower but in an effort to meet the needs of our most ardent consumers we are shifting our business plan slightly and will be keeping more of our carrot crop for on-farm sales and smaller stores. This will allow us to have carrots available for sale through the winter months. Getting the carrots will not be as convenient as dropping by the local grocery store but hopefully, with time, we will establish a system that works for everyone.
Our carrots will be at the farm markets and farm stores in August and September, in the grocery stores in October and November and at our farm, The Veggie Bus, and Bushes Bunches until we run out. Check the Where to Buy page of our website for current information.