Local Goodness - Rockwell Farms

Local Goodness - Rockwell Farms

The bright and vibrant poinsettias you will see this holiday season at your local Food Lion have already started their growing process. From July to September, Rockwell Farms in Rockwell, N.C., is growing and tending to the beautiful red, pink and white poinsettias that may decorate your home this holiday season. They’re just one of the beautiful blooms the grower has been offering to Food Lion customers for the last 40 years.

Since opening the farm in 1979, Rockwell Farms has expanded from half an acre of greenhouses to 36 environmentally-controlled greenhouses and 21 acres of outdoor fields. “We have been able to grow more since there are more Food Lion stores to service,” stated Jason Roseman, co-owner and vice president of sales.

Rockwell Farms’ partnership with Food Lion enables them to grow thousands of lively plants and flowers year-round, and you can find their beautiful plants at 427 Lion stores in North Carolina.

During the Spring season, it’s hard to miss the vibrant floral hanging baskets in your local Food Lion.  These baskets are the most popular crop sold from Rockwell Farms. They are perfect if you’re looking for a pop of color or a warm welcome on your porch.

Fall is also a very popular time for Rockwell Farms, as mums become the plant of the season. Food Lion roughly receives 300,000 mums during the fall season. Grown in a variety of colors, you are able to select the perfect flowering plant just to your liking.

Rockwell Farms has acquired 8 HV-100 robots to “perform a wide variety of the most demanding and critical plant handling tasks such as spacing, consolidation, and collection,” stated Roseman.

Even with the growth of both companies, Food Lion and Rockwell Farm’s partnership has remained strong. “It’s not just a transactional relationship; it’s a real relationship,” said Roseman. “There’s a lot of trust with somebody you’ve had a relationship with for 40 years. I have a lot of good correspondence with the local hometown Food Lion store managers and other associates. When you work for a company for this long, you eventually get to build relationships further than just transactions. Rockwell is going to do what’s right for Food Lion.”

Another benefit to having flowers grown just miles from the store? You never need to worry when thinking about which flowers are the freshest because the turnaround time from placing flowers on the truck in Rockwell to being in local Food Lion stores is around 24 hours.

Like Food Lion, Rockwell Farms also cares about the local community.  They make floral donations to various organizations, like the local veterans’ hospital, which are given poinsettias during the holiday season. When thinking of which flower grabs your attention in your local Food Lion, think of the local flowering plants coming from Rockwell Farms in Rockwell, N.C. They will not disappoint and are sure to your day and brighten up any room!

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