Byne Blueberry Farms

ATLANTA — The owners of Byne Blueberry Farms of Waynesboro gained some bragging rights Tuesday by winning the confection category with his chocolate-covered blueberries in the Flavor of Georgia contest run by the University of Georgia’s agriculture department.

WALTER JONES/MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

Lee Ann Meyer, of Lucky Lady Pecans in Harlem, meets judge Richard Johnson at her booth at the 2012 Flavor of Georgia Competition at the Georgia Freight Depot in downtown Atlanta on March 12. Lucky Lady’s Sweet & Salty Pecans were one of 25 products chosen as finalists for the Flavor of Georgia Competition this year. There were more than 125 products entered into this year’s contests.

The award came on Georgia Ag Day, complete with a speech by Gov. Nathan Deal and Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black. The overall winner was High Road Craft Ice Cream’s brown-butter-praline ice cream. They’re from Chamblee.

For owner Dick Byne, the benefits are more than adding the prize to his product’s label. It’s the introductions that come from the contest.

“It gets you in the door because of the way they award you,” he said. “… It’s the first step in the door.”

He knows because he’s won before with a special blueberry sauce in the 2007 contest. That win helped him snag contracts with Whole Foods and EarthFare.

That’s exactly the results UGA officials hoped for when they began sponsoring the contest seven years ago.

“Even ones that don’t win get good contacts into some stores,” said Kent Wolfe, director of UGA’s Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, the formal sponsor along with Black.

More than 120 Georgia-based companies entered the contest. The 25 finalists were invited to Atlanta for judging and exhibition across from the Capitol. The judges were buyers for major grocery chains who provided feedback forms to the contestants on everything from taste to packaging and marketing.

Some of the contestants are repeats like Byne. Others are just trying to get off the ground, like Jill Shoop of Wakinsville, the owner of Cool Pies.

She is researching how to begin making and distributing her frozen fruit pies seasoned with hot peppers, aiming for a June launch date.

“I’ve been making pies for years, and people kept saying ‘You’ve got to find a way to sell these,’” Shoop said.

Tracey-Luckey has been selling shelled pecans wholesale for nearly a century, but it was only in recent years that the company began seasoning them and retailing them from its operation in Harlem and online. Entering its Sweet & Salty pecans with the praline coating was an effort to branch out, according to employee Lee Ann Meyer.

“Obviously better recognition, free publicity is always great,” she said.

Rick Barrow is hoping the contest will help him make the transition from struggles in the recession-battered construction industry. He took his wife’s rum-ball recipe and began marketing rum cakes as Musketballs, Broadsides and Buckshot.

“You build a house; you build a cake. It’s the same thing,” he said. “I’ve built many a one.”

At the awards ceremony, Deal noted that the growing middle class in countries like China, Brazil and India create marketing opportunities as overseas families’ gain the income for more exotic foods.

“This macro-shift that is taking place offers some opportunities for Georgia,” he said.

Georgia’s 50,000 farms already generate $12 billion in business for the farmers, up 6.6 percent in 2010, the most recent year figures are available.

Article by Augusta Chronicle

By Anne Marie Kyzer of the True Citizen in Waynesboro, Ga
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com

The only thing Dick Byne may love talking about more than blueberries is his hometown.

Born and raised in Burke County, Dick has spent the past three decades raising bumper crops of blueberries and four daughters here with his wife Linda.

So, he was nearly moved to tears when Byne Blueberry Farm was announced as Small Business of the Year at the Burke County Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting last week.

“Waynesboro has supported me so much through the years and we are so appreciative of that,” he said, adding that just last fall when the Bynes introduced their chocolate blueberries, they sold out five times during the holidays here. “We were overwhelmed that our community would move so many blueberries in such a short amount of time before Christmas.”

Dick and Linda established Byne Blueberry Farm 32 years ago, eventually becoming the first organic blueberry farm in the country. Since then, with the help of their daughters Diane, AnnNell, Janie and Marion, they’ve grown to become a primary supplier of blueberries for natural food industry leaders such as Whole Foods and Earth Fare.

Over the years, the Bynes and their high quality berries and products have been recognized with a number of industry awards. Their blueberry salsa, a recipe honed in Linda’s kitchen, has been a first place winner in the Flavor of Georgia Contest organized by the University of Georgia. Two years ago, Dick received the Master Farmer award from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, where he graduated before attending UGA.

“Getting national or state awards are nice but it’s more personal when you get a Waynesboro award because people really know who you are,” Dick says. “These are the people you see day to day.”

The Bynes have also served as ambassadors for agriculture to members of this community and to those with a little less experience in the field. Local teens have often been given summer jobs, picking and sorting blueberries alongside the Byne daughters. The family has also hosted farm tours for employees of Whole Foods to offer them a glimpse of life on a working farm and the passion their family has for growing the best berries possible.

When not on the farm, Linda works as a librarian at Edmund Burke Academy and Dick drives a school bus for Burke County Public Schools.

For the past 17 years, Dick has also served on the Waynesboro City Council.

“(Dick) is probably no stranger to anyone in this room, because he is literally all over the community with his positive attitude, cheerful spirit and a hearty ‘here, here’ during meetings.” incoming chamber president Val Prescott said as he introduced the Bynes. “There is no one who loves this community more or serves as a better ambassador than this man.”

Tags: Byne Blueberries, Byne Blueberry Farms

It was a great day out at Byne Blueberry farms with the second annual expo, Here are a few photos!

TIFTON—Dick Byne of Waynesboro will be presented with the 2009 Master Farmer Award during the annual ABAC Alumni Association awards ceremony on Celebrate ABAC weekend on March 7 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
The Master Farmer Award has been presented annually since 1955 in recognition of alumni who have distinguished themselves as outstanding farmers. The award is based on leadership in the home, church, and community, as well as the use of wise and unique ideas in farm management and operation. Support of ABAC is also taken into consideration. The Master Farmer must earn two-thirds of his income on the farm. It is the oldest of the awards presented by the Alumni Association. Continue Reading »