Mack Farms is a member of Fresh Solutions Network, which has helped not only to expand the reach of their business, but to share with others in the potato industry the pioneering spirit that has made them so successful.
By all accounts, Arnold Mack was a pioneer in the fresh produce industry. After a short stint working for his family’s funeral parlor business in southern Alabama, Arnold chose to pursue a different career path. As he often told it, “We couldn’t get ’em in the ground fast enough to grow the business, so we decided on a different approach: growing fresh produce and getting ’em out of the ground. From there, it was up to us to grow the business.”
His first farming venture was growing watermelons in southern Alabama in 1967, and Mack Farms was one of the first in the world to market seedless watermelon varieties. In 1980, Arnold purchased a farm in Lake Wales, Fla., where he raised melons and vegetables. In 1989, Mack Farms grew its first potato crop, with sweet onions added to the mix a few years later.
Not only a leader when it came to agricultural innovation, Arnold Mack also felt a sense of duty to help the industry wherever he could. He served as a president and board member of the Alabama Watermelon Association, Florida Watermelon Association, and National Watermelon Association. He was instrumental in the creation of the National Watermelon Promotion Board and served on the U.S. Potato Board.
Arnold passed away in 2016. Today, his son, Chandler Mack, runs the farming operation as company president. What began as a small, seasonal family farm has since grown into one of the largest produce farming and marketing operations in Florida. Mack Farms, Inc. specializes in new crop potatoes and early seedless watermelon, and markets such popular brands as River Gold potatoes and onions and McMelon melons.
While the company’s potato specialties are reds and yellows, it also grows and markets white, russet and fingerling varieties. Mack Farms’ potato shipping season runs from February through June, but they pack and distribute potatoes nationwide and year-round from all major growing areas. Mack Farms is a member of Fresh Solutions Network, which has helped not only to expand the reach of their business, but to share with others in the potato industry the pioneering spirit that has made them so successful.
- 2nd generation family growing Potatoes, Watermelons, Cabbage, Squash and Sweet Onions
- Based in Lake Wales, Florida, Mack Farms began operations in 1967 growing, packing and shipping watermelons.
- Later, cabbage and squash were added, and in 1989 they moved into the production of potatoes, with sweet onions becoming the latest addition over just the past several years.
- Mack Farms recently acquired Okeechobee, Florida-based Eagle Island Farms, adding 2000 acres in South Florida and a second packing and storage facility to their operations.
- They have acquired new packaging capabilities for small potatoes as well as investing in new specialty grading equipment that gives them state-of-the-art sizing capabilities.
- They specialize in red potatoes, which account for around 65% of their total potato volume. But yellow potatoes are becoming increasingly important, making up another 25% of shipments, with the balance split between white potatoes, Russets and Fingerlings.
“The most difficult part of farming has to deal with the challenges that weather can present. An important lesson I have learned through farming is that hard work can pay off, and giving up is not an option.” – Chandler Mack, Mack Farms, Florida
This article appears in the December 2021 issue of Potato Grower.
