Tag: covid

Economic development is on every community’s agenda right now. The impacts of the Covid lockdown on the food industry were massive, and many are just starting to peek out from the past and check the waters when it comes to growth and expansion.

Then there are places like the Shenandoah Valley, located in Virginia, that are bursting to tell their news. One of their major areas of focus is the food processing taking place in the region. From wine to potato chips, from major behind-the-scenes food producers, to on-trend restaurants, coffee shops and “locally grown” gaining steam—well, you take all that and you begin to see economic recovery and more.

The Food Channel recently had the opportunity to work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) to investigate one of the areas showing success in attracting food industry and business. They toured us around scenic Shenandoah Valley to visit what they call their “world-class food and beverage industry assets.” It’s a phrase aptly used. We visited some of the up and coming places, and talked with entrepreneurs as well as established business people, both eager to tell the Virginia story.

Tucked into the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains are a number of food and beverage processing businesses—the food behind the food, if you will. Some are start-ups, and their excitement is palpable. Others are global food brands that have chosen to expand in the area, in part because of its accessibility to everything from farmland to a solid workforce.

Here are a few facts:

• More than 150 food and beverage processing companies chose to locate or expand in Virginia over the last decade, creating over 7,300 new jobs and representing capital investments totaling $2.3 billion.
• Virginia’s food and beverage processing industry employs more than 42,000 people, accounts for over 17% of Virginia’s total manufacturing employment, and is the Commonwealth’s second-largest manufacturing sector and one of its fastest-growing industries.
• Employment in the food and beverage processing sector has grown by 15% over the past five years—the second-highest rate in the Southeast.
• Virginia offers a diverse ecosystem of partners and suppliers for food and beverage processors, including dozens of packagers and bottlers, 100+ transporters and warehouses (including expansive cold storage options), and 43,000 farms.

With all that said, we’ll be presenting a series of stories highlighting food businesses such as Common Wealth Crush, one of the newest winemakers in Virginia, Route 11 Potato Chips, making and distributing addictive kettle-cooked chips, and Kerry Group, a long-established company that most of our audience won’t recognize by name but, however, consumes its products.

It all makes an interesting tale, as you’ll see from the series of stories that will be appearing here over the next few weeks. We’ll include a few restaurant reviews and tourism destinations, too.

Food people are resilient. They have ideas, and are ready to unleash innovation across the industry. That’s why we’ve chosen to showcase Virginia as one area of the country that is focusing its economic development efforts on FOOD.

Some accommodations for these stories were provided by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).

Photos by Paul K. Logsdon