Crown Produce gets fresh, local

Published 10:00 am Sunday, July 16, 2017

VALDOSTA — “I asked my wife if she wanted to do produce. Next thing I knew, I was building this building,” Tim Crown said.

Crown runs Crown Produce Market, a produce stand on Old U.S. Highway 41. He runs the store along with his wife, Leah Crown, brother Mike Crown and Mike’s wife, Teresa Crown.

The Crowns focus on local and fresh produce. Mike said they balance inventory so they have enough product on hand but only so much that it remains fresh.

For instance, Crown Produce typically sells out of boiled peanuts before the end of the day, Mike said.

“When everything was in season, about 85 percent (of Crown’s produce) came from Lowndes County. What we don’t get from here, we get from counties around us,” Mike said.

Mike and Tim each bring a unique expertise to the business. Tim and Leah typically run the produce stand side of the business while Mike handles picking up produce from local farmers to sell at the store.

Together, the Crown brothers designed and built not just the business but the stand itself. They have decades of experience working the family business in the timber industry and currently run Crown Land & Timber, LLC.

“My father gave me the illusion that money grows on trees so I got a forestry degree,” Mike said.

Tim said the forestry industry and agricultural seasons work well together. The produce season winds down in the fall, around the same time the forestry business picks up.

Likewise, Teresa and Leah focus on their day jobs during the fall and winter seasons. Teresa is a school bus driver and Leah teaches at Clyattville Elementary School.

Tim and Leah have previous experience with produce. Tim ran a produce stand in South Carolina in the late 1990s and Leah has grown produce.

“I’m glad to be on this end of it,” Leah said. “Growing is not near as fun.”

Crown Produce Market sells a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, including frozen vegetables such as peas. The frozen peas are available both raw and frozen or frozen and already blanched.

The Crowns also sell a variety of locally made products: homemade soaps, jams, jellies, honey, barbecue sauces, seasonings, rubs and breading.

Next season, the Crowns plan to expand the store.

“We built what we thought we needed but it turns out we needed probably twice that,” Tim said.

Tim would like to buy a nearby building for storage and use the current building as just a storefront.

The Crowns plan to sell additional food items and Leah would like to sell wreaths and other homemade decorations.

“I’ve always done decorations out of my home and people always asked to buy them,” Leah said.

Crown Produce Market is located at 3950 Highway 41 North and can be contacted by phone (229) 563-6335. Store hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.