As a fresh produce processor, repacker, and wholesaler serving the Southeast for over 60 years, McEntire Produce is proud to welcome you to our website. In keeping with our company's commitment to deliver the freshest produce products along with the highest level of customer service, we provide this website to give you a clear understanding of the variety of products we make available to you. Additionally, this information will help to expedite the ordering process for all products brought to you exclusively by McEntire Produce.
Company News
United Fresh gets new Chairman
McEntire is proud to announce our Executive Vice-President, Tom Lovelace, as the incoming Chairman of the Board for the United Fresh Produce Association. His term will begin May 3rd, 2008 and run for one year. We congratulate Tom on this distinguished appointment.
New Vice President of Operations joins McEntire Produce Staff
We would like to welcome Steve Beckham to McEntire Produce. Steve and his wife Sara joined us in August 2007, relocating from the Atlanta, Georgia area. Steve brings extensive knowledge of the retail and foodservice business to his new role of VP of Operations at McEntire Produce. Like many at McEntire, Steve grew up in the produce business working with his family-owned company. Steve has leveraged his interpersonal skills and leadership abilities in every aspect of Team Development, Plant Management, Quality Control, Food Safety, Fresh Cut Processing, and Whole Case produce.
Steve joins us from Fresh Express, Inc. based in Salinas, CA where he has been employed for the last ten years. At Fresh Express, Steve held positions ranging from Tomato Operations Manager, Senior Production Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Demand Analyst, and Contract Manufacturing Manager. During this time, Steve helped drive increased customer service levels, improved safety culture, and development of a variety of new products for both Food Service and Retail segments. Prior to Fresh Express, Steve worked for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. based in Bentonville, Arkansas, while attending the University of Arkansas. During his seven years at Wal-Mart, Steve worked within the Corporate Logistics division as Logistics and Supply Chain Analyst and Financial Analyst supporting 32 distribution centers.
We look forward to the contributions that Steve will make to our growing business.
Fresh Cut Magazine Features McEntire Produce
Fresh-cut processor expands with 160,000-square-foot facility
By Scott Christie, Managing Editor, Fresh Cut
There’s one moment that has come to define McEntire Produce.
“We had a customer ask us to start shredding lettuce on a Hobart,” said Carter McEntire, vice president of the Columbia, S.C.-based company. “That’s what got us into the fresh-cut business.” read more >>
McEntire Contracts Lighthouse FS&C
McEntire Produce is pleased to announce its next step in its ongoing commitment to provide the safest produce available to its customers. McEntire Produce, along with two other fresh-cut processors, have collaborated to contract Lighthouse FS&C to conduct crop risk assessments, Good Agricultural Practices audits and Good Harvesting Practices audits throughout the Western United States growing areas on behalf of the processors.
Lighthouse FS&C is based in Salinas, California and is a new company formed by Walt Armijo to conduct a broad range of food safety compliance, auditing and training programs for the produce industry. Mr. Armijo is recognized as a leading authority in the food safety arena. He specializes in commodity risk assessments, Good Agricultural Practices and Good Harvesting Practices for an extensive list of produce commodities grown for use by fresh-cut processors.
In nearly thirty years of practical, in-the-field experience with companies including Fresh Express, Fresh Advantage, Primus Laboratories, American Farms and D'Arrigo Brothers of California, Walt has developed an extensive skill-set that enables him to provide the assurance that our growers are compliant with the latest industry standards developed to minimize microbial food safety hazards.
Lighthouse FS&C begins operations on April 1, 2007.
New Facility
McEntire Produce is pleased to announce that we have just opened a new 163,000 square-foot, state of the art food processing facility. The facility is located on American Italian Way off of Pineview Road, and was completed in September of 2006. We are looking forward to the ways in which the new facility will allow us to deliver a higher quality product more efficiently to our customers.
Click here to see live images and construction photos of our new facility and contact us if you need a login and password.
