Blackberry Patch Adds to Its Line of Fruit-First Foods

By Lorrie Baumann

Blackberry Patch is coming to New York this year with 10 new products targeted to meet fast-growing trends in favor of simple, organic ingredients, concern for quality and for products that consumers will be proud to serve guests in their homes. The new products include organic fruit syrups and new fruit preserves especially for pairing with cheeses.

Blackberry Patch is perhaps best known for high-quality fruit syrups with just a few ingredients. The company is owned by Harry T. Jones, whose team calls him the Mortar of Blackberry Patch, and his business partner and company President, Randy Harvey, who’s known as the Brick. “Most of our products that are in the growth phase are fruit-first and include just three ingredients,” he said. “Three ingredients started in 2006, and it really took off in 2016 and 2017. Last June, the company became Non-GMO Project verified for 10 items.”

This year, Blackberry Patch is bringing Organic Blueberry, Organic Strawberry and Organic Raspberry syrups to the Summer Fancy Food Show. “They’re mostly berries with a little cane sugar and lemon juice. It’s something that we’re really excited about,” Jones said. These introductions appeal on two counts – their short ingredient deck and their organic certification. “The fruit-first trend is snowballing. We were 12 years early. About a year ago, it passed the tipping point. People used to talk about discriminating tastes. Now they are living it,” he said. “This year, organic. … It is becoming more than just a narrow niche.”

A couple of years ago, Blackberry Patch ventured into fruit toppings for yogurt, then relabeled them for use with ice cream after grocers said their customers were more interested in toppings for ice cream than for yogurt. The first four ice cream toppings came out in 2016 with Strawberry, Blackberry, Blueberry and Raspberry. Peach was added in 2017.

Jones and Harvey continued their exploration of fruit preserves paired with dairy products with the development of fruit preserves designed to pair with cheeses. Strawberry Fig, Raspberry Pepper and Peach Pepper Fruit Preserves for Cheese debuted in 2016. The company partnered with Sweet Grass Dairy, located just down the road in the small southwest Georgia city of Thomasville, to follow those with Blueberry Lemon Thyme and Peach Bourbon Cardamom Fruit Preserves for Cheese. This year, Blackberry Patch and Sweet Grass Dairy have partnered up again to develop a suite of products that feature the flavor of Satsuma, a zipper-skinned citrus fruit that’s native to Japan but that has also been grown in southern Georgia for almost 100 years, Jones said. “It’s making a huge comeback,” he said. “Our neighbors are growing them, and we’re able to take that juice, or fruit, and make it into a range of products.”

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All of Blackberry Patch’s products are handmade in small batches. “We use premium quality ingredients that are recognizable, that you might have in your own kitchen. Never any artificial color, flavor, or preservatives. It’s really the craft approach – our grandmother would have made it, but it’s available from a GFSI, SQF- Level III facility. Level II covers food safety, level III covers food safety and quality. It’s a rigorous program to be involved with,” Jones said.

Jones and Harvey were two farmers who bought the Blackberry Patch business in 1999 as a way into the specialty food business. “It was our ticket to the dance to get into the specialty food industry,” Jones said. The existing business had a premium quality product line, and Jones and Harvey streamlined the product range from about 400 products to around 40. “We quickly realized that what the company did better than anything else in the world was fruit syrups,” Jones said. “Around 2006, we decided that the company needed a higher end product and started making three-ingredient fruit syrup. … Our business is now focused on making great fruit syrups and not being in the retail business and not distracted by growing all or most of our ingredients. We have farmers we work with…. We do search the world for the finest fruits, but many of our products are made with items from our area.”

In addition to making their fruit syrups and toppings, Jones and Harvey have made their business into a vehicle for Christian stewardship. “We recognize that this business is a blessing, and as a consequence, we share profits with causes that we feel are worthwhile,” Harvey said. Currently, a portion of the profits from Blackberry Patch is donated to support Marion Medical Missions, providing clean water in developing nations; and The Gideons, bringing the Word of God to millions each year. Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for those who need them, and ECHO, which fights global hunger by helping subsistence farmers develop better, more sustainable agricultural methods, also benefit. “Our commitment to stewardship is at the core of our business,” Jones said. “We’re very proud to be able to give something back to the global community.”