$64.3M peanut plant to bring 130 new jobs; planned Orangeburg County facility called A ‘dream come true’

A company owned by peanut growers is planning to invest $64.3 million and bring 130 new jobs to Orangeburg County.

Portions of the new peanut shelling facility are expected to be operational by the spring of 2022.

“That is an investment made by peanut farmers,” Premium Peanut President and CEO Karl Zimmer said Wednesday.

“We are very much looking forward to working with growers and peanut farmers in South Carolina and welcoming them as part of Premium Peanut,” he said.

Zimmer made the announcement in front of a group of more 100 people at Palmetto Peanut Company in Calhoun County. Palmetto Peanut is the largest among the state’s 12 peanut buying stations.

Premium Peanut plans to invest $27.5 million in buildings and $36.8 million in equipment in Orangeburg County over the next five years. The company has not yet said where its new plant will be located.

It will be the state’s first peanut shelling plant.

Georgia-based Premium Peanut was founded in 2014. The company says it has one of the newest and largest peanut shelling facilities in the world.

The company began shelling peanuts in 2016 with about 140,000 tons in shelling capacity. The company has grown to a plant capacity of 300,000 tons, which is about 10% of the nation’s peanut crop.

The company has also operated an oil mill since 2018.

Premium Peanut now has more than $250 million in revenues.

“We have a problem,” Zimmer said. “We are out of capacity. The market is still growing and the opportunities are still growing.”

The company’s customers consist of major snack, candy and peanut butter manufacturers domestically, as well as customers in more than 30 countries around the world.

Premium Peanut is owned by over 400 peanut growers throughout Georgia and now South Carolina.

Zimmer said the company has been so successful that investors have made enough to pay back the initial investment and the stock value has doubled in seven years.

The company looked at multiple sites and states for its shelling facility before settling on Orangeburg County.

As part of its arrival in Orangeburg County, Premium Peanut has received a 30-year fee-in-lieu of taxes incentive.

It’s also been placed in a multi-county industrial park with Dorchester County. A multi-county industrial park is an incentive mechanism and is not a physical park.

The company also will receive job development tax credits.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, who attended the announcement, said “When our people work, people want to invest in us, including Premium Peanut.

“That is why they are coming here – because it is about the people.”

McMaster presented the company with a brass plate with the state’s motto: “While I breathe, I hope.”

“These jobs will have above-average wages,” Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said. “It will also definitely be a benefit to the citizens of Orangeburg County.”

“We value our farmers and manufacturing in Orangeburg County,” Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said. “This is a perfect marriage and a one-of-a-kind facility in South Carolina.”

S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers said the project means “jobs and investment” in Orangeburg County, which will add to tax rolls and provide good-paying jobs.

Weathers said the shelling facility is just another opportunity to market one of the state’s star crops.

“Here is one more marketing opportunity because they will need more acreage of peanuts,” Weathers said.

Peanuts are currently purchased at a buying station. The S.C. Department of Agriculture grades the peanuts for the farmer.

“You have a dried peanut in storage,” Weathers explained. “Up until this investment, those peanuts would then be freighted to Virginia, North Carolina or Georgia for shelling and then for manufacturing into peanut products or a whole peanut.”

With the addition of the shelling plant, “the next level of value will now be in South Carolina, so that is tax revenue,” Weathers said.

“When agribusiness thrives, all of South Carolina benefits from it,” he said.

Weathers noted that 25 years ago, about 10,000 acres of peanuts were planted in the state. In 2002, federal legislation was amended and opened up more peanut opportunities for South Carolina farmers.

In 2017, about 120,000 acres were grown in the state.

Orangeburg County farmer Danny Mixon, a board member of Premium Peanut, has been growing peanuts in Orangeburg County since 1979.

“When I brought my peanuts to the buying point and I dumped them, all the money I could make was on how much I made, what price I got and how much I had in it,” Mixon said. Now farmers get to share in the profit.

“They are not captured by a market, because whatever the market is, they are going to share in it,” he said. “It makes a big difference for the farmer.”

“This is a dream come true,” Mixon continued. “We started a buying point when peanuts were in this area and now there is a tremendous amount of peanuts and three buying points.”

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said, “This is a team.”

“We all hope to benefit from this event in one way or the other. We are just grateful for the opportunity. Let’s keep Orangeburg moving forward,” he said.

Premium Peanut Chairman Ken Fountain said coming into South Carolina is a win.

Growers interested in learning more should contact the Palmetto Peanut buying point.

Individuals interested in joining Premium Peanut should visit the company’s careers webpage at https://secure6.saashr.com/ta/6154256.careers?CareersSearch