Premium Peanut hasn’t been open for business very long. But it has made a quite am impact in a short period of time. At the Dec. 14 meeting of the Douglas Rotary Club, Gary Evans, a Rotarian and Premium Peanut employee, shared some of the progress the shelling plant has made over the last year.
The growers that send peanuts to Premium Peanut are also the facility’s shareholders. Currently, there are 357 shareholders in 30 counties. Premium Peanut handled 260,000 tons of peanuts this year and expects about 210,000 tons in 2018. It also added three new buying points and reported over $175 million in sales. Business has been so good that shareholders should get their first dividend check in early 2018.
Premium Peanut now has 10 buying points and has the capacity to handle 310,000 tons of peanuts. Since its original facility was built, the company has spent $38.7 million in improvements and expansion.