Alabama Farmers Cooperative, originally the Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Cooperative, was organized in Decatur, Alabama in 1936 by a group of local county co-ops. Upon becoming a single entity, the new cooperative developed a modest plant in Decatur to satisfy the farmers’ need for fairly priced fertilizer.Over the years, AFC acquired or built additional facilities. Today, AFC has storage facilities for both liquid and dry fertilizer throughout the areas that it serves.Alabama Farmers Cooperative (AFC) provides farmers in the Yellowhammer State a full range of agricultural supplies and services, including feed, fertilizer, seed, grain storage, and marketing, along with home-gardening items such as seeds and hardware. The co-op, which boasts 46 member associations, serving members in 49 US states; it owns and operates member-only co-op stores in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. AFC owns Bonnie Plants, one of the largest suppliers of vegetable and herb plants for the home gardener in the US, along with BioLogic, which makes forage products for wild game. AFC also operates catfish fish farms and supplies the foodservice industry with whole and value-added catfish.

Davis Bynum is distinguished as the first winery to produce a single vineyard pinot noir from the Russian River Valley. The vintage was 1973 and the grapes were from Joe Rochioli's now prized vineyard. Today, more than thirty years later, the heritage of Davis Bynum lives on through the hand crafted creation of pinot noir and chardonnay grown exclusively in Russian River Valley.

Moark LLC is one of the top egg producers in the US, owning more than 24 million laying hens in about a dozen facilities across the nation. Its eggs are sold under private-label and national brand names, such as Land O'Lakes All-Natural Farm Fresh Eggs. The company, whose hens produce some 126 million eggs a week, also produces specialty eggs including all-natural, cage-free, Omega-3-enhanced, and organic. Moark is also is a top franchisee of the Eggland's Best brand of eggs. The bulk of the company's eggs are sold as shell eggs, the rest are turned into other consumer and industrial egg products.

Cadbury Adams USA has it all wrapped up -- in thin little rectangles wrapped in foil. The US division of UK candy giant Cadbury makes candy, chewing gum, and mints. Its brands include Bubblicious, Certs, Chiclets, Dentyne, HALLS, Sour Patch, Swedish Fish, and Trident. The company also makes the retro gum brands Beeman's, Blackjack, and Clove, which it reintroduces every few years in order to cash in on nostalgia buffs and baby boomers. Cadbury Adams USA was formed after then Cadbury Schweppes bought the Adams chewing gum brands from Pfizer for $4.2 billion in 2003 and integrated it into its already existing US operations. (Cadbury Schweppes spun off its beverage operations to focus solely on candy in 2008.)

Mars knows chocolate sales are nothing to snicker at. Mars, Incorporated makes such worldwide favorites as M&M's, Snickers, and the Mars bar. Its other confections include 3 Musketeers, Dove, Milky Way, Skittles, Twix, and Starburst candy; Combos and Kudos snacks; Uncle Ben's rice; and pet food under the names Pedigree, Sheba, and Whiskas. It also owns the world's largest chewing gum maker, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. The Mars family (including siblings and retired company CEO Forrest Mars Jr., chairman John Franklyn Mars, and VP Jacqueline Badger Mars) owns the highly secretive firm, making the family one of the richest in the US.

Kontos Foods manufactures and markets Greek and Middle Eastern bakery products including more than 22 varieties of flatbread, including as pita and hand-stretched (not die-cut) fillo dough. Kontos Foods company also provides Mediterranean specialty foods such as gyro meats, feta cheese, grape leaves, and kalamata olives. Kontos sells its products wholesale to US supermarkets, ethnic grocers, specialty food stores, restaurants, and foodservice distributors. Kontos Foods also exports to Canada and other countries.

Liberty Vegetable Oil Company was founded in 1948 by Isaac Sinaiko and is still owned and operated by his descendants. Liberty Vegetable Oil Company produces certified-organic and -kosher oils from tree nuts. Its oils include sweet almond, English walnut, and pecan, all of which are used in the food-manufacturing, personal-care product, and cosmetic industries. Liberty also makes specialty oils, including oleic canola oil and non-GMO (non-genetically modified) soybean oil. Liberty Vegetable Oil company's milling and refining facilities have the capacity to process 75 tons of nuts and kernels every day. Its products, which are made from US-grown nuts, are distributed throughout the world.

Interior Alaska Fish Processors company, which does business as Santa's Smokehouse, specializes in wild Alaskan salmon items. It processes and packages salmon in smoked, canned, and frozen forms. Other products include frozen crab legs, caviar, and halibut. Interior Alaska Fish Processors company's offerings are sold through distributors in the continental US and can also be purchased at interior alaska fish company's retail store in Fairbanks, Alaska, or ordered through its Web site and catalog. Santa's Smokehouse also provides custom seafood and game processing for hunters and fishermen. Interior Alaska Fish Processors, Inc. is owned and operated by the Umphenour family.

n 2008, Danone recorded an organic growth rate of 8.4% — practical proof that its business growth model truly works. With its operating margin increasing for the 14th year running, the group further strengthened its global standing: world no. 1 in fresh dairy products, world no. 2 in bottled waters, world no. 2 in baby nutrition and European no. 1 in medical nutrition. The group’s performance is the result of a balanced strategy that builds on international expansion, a growing commitment to innovation, and strengthening health-oriented brands. In order to live up to its ambitions, Danone invests heavily in Research & Development — €208 million in 2008. One hundred percent of projects currently in the pipeline focus on health and nutrition. Three centuries after the benefits of Evian mineral water were discovered, over a century after Blédine was first marketed, and nearly a century after the first Danone yoghurt was retailed in a pharmacy, health innovation remains more than ever a driver of the group’s business growth. 2008 confirmed that the previous year’s acquisition of the Dutch group Numico was strategically sound. With this move, Danone incorporated into its strategy two profitable, fast-growing health-oriented business lines: medical nutrition and baby nutrition. They naturally round off the group’s brand portfolio and are perfectly aligned with its mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible. Today Danone is the only food group to focus totally on health.

General Custer ran into trouble at the Little Big Horn and Alexander Graham Bell made his famous telephone call to Mr. Watson. In St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Busch was brewing his first batch of beer. Meanwhile, across the state in the busy river town of St. Joseph, Dr. George Washington Chase faced a dilemma. In those days it was difficult raising a family on a doctor’s meager wages. Drawing upon his previous experiences while growing up back East, Chase decided to open a fruit and produce business. The business prospered and in the early 1920’s Chase built a modern four story factory in downtown St. Joseph. About this time the third generation of the Chase family, Charles, joined the Company.

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