Successful partnerships are the heartbeat of our company. While transportation, procurement and warehouse logistics are certainly vital to our operation, it is ultimately our relationships with our growers that are most valuable when it comes to getting our food from the farm to the table. Our farming partners at Hepworth Farms are the quintessence of what we seek and appreciate in a grower partner. They are quality-driven, consistent, a pleasure to work with, and innovative in every aspect of organic sustainable farming.
The Hepworth Family Farm was established in 1818 and is located in Milton, New York, in the Hudson River Valley. The farm is run today by sisters Amy and Gail Hepworth along with Gerry Greco. Amy is a seventh-generation family farmer who, after graduating from Cornell University in 1982, took a 200 year old apple farm and transformed it into what it is today – a 500 acre NOFA-certified farm growing more than 400 varieties of organic vegetables. They raise over 300 different varieties of tomatoes, along with peppers, eggplant, summer squash and a plethora of greens. The farm is a women-owned business, and in Amy’s words, “Hepworth Farms practices a whole-alive-systems approach. We deeply care and are devoted to our workers, land and energy conservation, while delivering healthy and delicious food to our customers.”
Like Ace Natural, Hepworth Farms is committed to being responsible stewards of our land and the environment. Working to eliminate waste has been a top priority for the farm, and Ace Natural is a key partner in this endeavor. We are always willing to buy their ”seconds” as a food waste reduction strategy, selling this food at a reduced cost to our customers for juicing, cooking, or whatever capacity it can be used effectively, and still retain its excellence and value. We have worked closely with both our customers and Hepworth Farms to develop new items -such as heirloom tomato varieties, variegated squashes, and this year, we are working together on a potato program that will feature more exotic and esoteric varieties. This level of the partnership produces a very innovative culture allowing Hepworth to take chances, stay ahead of the curve, and experiment with new varieties of produce.
Gail, at Hepworth knows that when she needs to sell something, we are her go-to partner.
The Hepworth Farms and Ace Natural partnership is exciting and dynamic, and allows us to do far more than just change the way people eat. Together, we are creating a sustainable future. And at this time, we can think of nothing that’s more important or more worthy of our time and energy.