Published: November 15, 2008 09:24 pm         

Fruits of Labor continues to grow ... literally

Agriculture business offers clientele unique produce and services

From a small farm at Grassy Meadows, Jared and Tammy Robertson continue to expand Fruits of Labor, their agriculture-related business.

“We recently announced the opening of our new corporate headquarters,” Tammy said. “We also have our bakery open to the public from 3 to 7 p.m. every Tuesday.”

The agribusiness began in 2001 in the small community near Dawson in Greenbrier County.

“We originally just started planting produce for sale,” Tammy said. “We both had worked in the agriculture industry in the past and thought we could raise farm produce to sell. Everyone seemed to want fresh, farm-grown produce.”

Five years ago, Fruits of Labor added specialized catering, floral design, bakery and wedding cake services.

“The business kept growing, literally,” according to Tammy, offering catering services to corporate and other types of business customers as well. Fruits of Labor is not a restaurant and doesn’t offer dine-in services.

“We will see what the future holds for our business, but right now our current goal is to expand more and more into the corporate side,” she said.

Today, the company has expanded to offer catering and bakery services to the public on a pre-order basis only.

“Orders are subject to date availability,” Tammy explained.

Fruits of Labor offers catering for weddings and corporate breakfasts, lunches and special events.

“We love weddings,” Tammy said. “This is our fourth year producing a wedding magazine that showcases weddings. Brides are excited to get in the magazine and get on our Web site.”

In the U.S., most agriculture-related businesses are in a transitional period between catering to local or specialized markets and some are even reaching out to national or global customers.

“We are expanding, but our focus is on the local communities around us,” said Tammy.

She says the bakery is one way for local residents to stop in and see what Fruits of Labor has to offer.

“We make it a really nice and very enjoyable atmosphere,” Tammy said.

The public can pre-order any items from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

“However, we have had such an overwhelming response from our community that we wanted to have a day every week where you can stop and get breads, cakes, cookies, soups, salads, sandwiches, and much, much more,” Tammy added.

For directions, to see menu items or additional information, visit the company’s Web site at www.fruitsoflaborinc.com or call 304-392-6452

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com