Local elderberry harvest begins
Elderberries turn black/blue when they ripen
July 22, 2020
Sheila Harris
Purdy, merely a wide spot in the road by the standards of some, is unique in more ways than just one. It’s now home to the largest elderberry production operation in the United States, quite a boast for a town with a population of about 1,000 residents.
As you drive through Purdy, eight acres of elderberry plants lush with ripe berries can be seen on the east side of Highway 37, just north of the intersection with C Highway, just a portion of the 120 acres planted in elderberries by Innovative Natural Solutions (INS), headquartered in Purdy.
“One hundred and twenty acres might not sound like much,” Devon Bennett, President of INS, said, “but when you consider that ten acres of elderberries, planted and harvested by hand, are the approximate equivalent in man-hours to 200 acres of corn or soybeans, you get a better feel for what elderberry production really means.”
In 2012, while on a class trip to Europe during his senior year at Purdy High School, Bennett’s eye was caught by mature trees covered in white blossoms prevalent throughout much of Europe. Upon questioning, he was told they were elderberry trees, grown for their blue-black fruit prized for its nutritive properties for use in supplements.
After returning to Purdy, Bennett began to research the fruit’s production in the United States, and discovered its use for commercial purposes was still relatively experimental.
“I’ve always been a jump-before-I-walk kind of guy,” Bennett said. “Sometimes you have to be that way or you’ll never start anything. It just seemed to me I was looking at a golden opportunity to get in on the ground floor of elderberry production at a time when the market was wide open.”
After much research and discussion with agricultural experts – including Andy Thomas, a horticultural research professor at the University of Missouri’s Southwest Center in Mt. Vernon - the following year Bennett plunged into his own grand elderberry experiment.
“Not much was known about the long-term commercial prospects for elderberries in 2013,” Bennett said. “Not a lot of research had been done regarding the best types of cultivars for our climate, nor how pest-resistant they would be, nor whether the market would even be receptive to the product, but I didn’t let it intimidate me.
“I started by hand-planting seven acres of elderberry cuttings outside of Purdy. I had help, of course,” Bennett continued. “An average acre can accommodate 750 to 1,000 plants, with rows 10 feet apart, and plants spaced four feet apart in the rows - to give you an idea of the work involved.”
Elderberries do not produce berries for commercial use during their first season. Rather, any flowers produced are pinched off to encourage further growth of the plant. The next year, however, in 2014, Bennett was able to sell his first crop to a gentleman in Kansas City for distribution in the Wichita, Kansas City and Jefferson City areas.
Buoyed by his success, Bennett looked to expand his production the following season, but realized he needed a firmer grasp on where the market was going before doing so.
Enter Brittany Lueckenhoff, his wife Chelsea’s cousin. Lueckenhoff, also a Purdy native, had sat in on many an elderberry conversation between Bennett and her father, Ed Mareth, as they had hashed over marketing possibilities for the innovative commercial crop.
“I realized I wanted to be a part of the elderberry project,” Lueckenhoff said. “I was still working on completing my elementary education degree out of state, but saw this as a unique now-or-never opportunity. I made the decision in 2014 to partner with Devon. In January of 2015, we were putting up the greenhouse that currently still sits on the back of the farm off Highway 37. That spring, we planted the eight acres adjacent to the highway in elderberries while I was finishing up my degree, set to graduate that fall.”
The duo partnered up to form Innovative Natural Solutions, and put together an initial five-year business plan with an aggressive marketing strategy.
“We had three basic goals,” Bennett said, “to manage a supply chain for our elderberries, to create a processing plant to supply retail products, and to create our own consumer brand.”
They have been successful in all three endeavors. They have established a production facility in Purdy which operates full-time, year-round, to produce, package and label elderberry products. In numbers which show that Americans are interested in immune-support, for which elderberries are gaining renown, Innovative Natural Solutions produces and supplies approximately 10 – 12,000 bottles of dietary supplements per week from the facility in Purdy. Their main volume, according to Bennett, is in the wellness products category.
In 2016, Innovative Natural Solutions met the owners and co-founders of Norm’s Farms, a North Carolina, family-owned elderberry production business, at a trade show.
“They were in search of a consistent supply for their business,” Bennett said. “It just seemed like a natural fit for us to team up with them, so we began negotiations to do so. In 2017, we acquired a majority share of Norm’s Farms. With the acquisition, we were able to make Norm’s Farms a nature to nurture company, starting from the farm all the way to the finished product you see on the shelves today.”
The elderberry market has exploded since then.
“We now have elderberries planted on acreages in Verona, Monett, Yonkerville and Purdy, as well as on contract-grower sites throughout the United States,” Lueckenhoff said. “We like to separate the acreages, so we don’t risk losing all of our crop production at once due to natural causes, such as a tornado or hailstorm.”
According to Lueckenhoff, the elderberries must all be picked by hand, so it is literally all hands on deck during this time.
“Several people join our team during the harvest season to ensure we don’t get behind,” she said. “In addition to extra seasonal help, Innovative Natural Solutions and Norm’s Farm employ just under 20 people in their sales office and production facility, and that number continues to grow at a rapid pace.”
“We’re now supplying major companies in the nutraceutical space across the United States,” Bennett added. “We want to keep the business in Purdy, though. We may outgrow our production facility, but if we do, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, our motto continues to be ‘Elderberry, every day, for everyone.’”
Sheila Harris
Purdy, merely a wide spot in the road by the standards of some, is unique in more ways than just one. It’s now home to the largest elderberry production operation in the United States, quite a boast for a town with a population of about 1,000 residents.
As you drive through Purdy, eight acres of elderberry plants lush with ripe berries can be seen on the east side of Highway 37, just north of the intersection with C Highway, just a portion of the 120 acres planted in elderberries by Innovative Natural Solutions (INS), headquartered in Purdy.
“One hundred and twenty acres might not sound like much,” Devon Bennett, President of INS, said, “but when you consider that ten acres of elderberries, planted and harvested by hand, are the approximate equivalent in man-hours to 200 acres of corn or soybeans, you get a better feel for what elderberry production really means.”
In 2012, while on a class trip to Europe during his senior year at Purdy High School, Bennett’s eye was caught by mature trees covered in white blossoms prevalent throughout much of Europe. Upon questioning, he was told they were elderberry trees, grown for their blue-black fruit prized for its nutritive properties for use in supplements.
After returning to Purdy, Bennett began to research the fruit’s production in the United States, and discovered its use for commercial purposes was still relatively experimental.
“I’ve always been a jump-before-I-walk kind of guy,” Bennett said. “Sometimes you have to be that way or you’ll never start anything. It just seemed to me I was looking at a golden opportunity to get in on the ground floor of elderberry production at a time when the market was wide open.”
After much research and discussion with agricultural experts – including Andy Thomas, a horticultural research professor at the University of Missouri’s Southwest Center in Mt. Vernon - the following year Bennett plunged into his own grand elderberry experiment.
“Not much was known about the long-term commercial prospects for elderberries in 2013,” Bennett said. “Not a lot of research had been done regarding the best types of cultivars for our climate, nor how pest-resistant they would be, nor whether the market would even be receptive to the product, but I didn’t let it intimidate me.
“I started by hand-planting seven acres of elderberry cuttings outside of Purdy. I had help, of course,” Bennett continued. “An average acre can accommodate 750 to 1,000 plants, with rows 10 feet apart, and plants spaced four feet apart in the rows - to give you an idea of the work involved.”
Elderberries do not produce berries for commercial use during their first season. Rather, any flowers produced are pinched off to encourage further growth of the plant. The next year, however, in 2014, Bennett was able to sell his first crop to a gentleman in Kansas City for distribution in the Wichita, Kansas City and Jefferson City areas.
Buoyed by his success, Bennett looked to expand his production the following season, but realized he needed a firmer grasp on where the market was going before doing so.
Enter Brittany Lueckenhoff, his wife Chelsea’s cousin. Lueckenhoff, also a Purdy native, had sat in on many an elderberry conversation between Bennett and her father, Ed Mareth, as they had hashed over marketing possibilities for the innovative commercial crop.
“I realized I wanted to be a part of the elderberry project,” Lueckenhoff said. “I was still working on completing my elementary education degree out of state, but saw this as a unique now-or-never opportunity. I made the decision in 2014 to partner with Devon. In January of 2015, we were putting up the greenhouse that currently still sits on the back of the farm off Highway 37. That spring, we planted the eight acres adjacent to the highway in elderberries while I was finishing up my degree, set to graduate that fall.”
The duo partnered up to form Innovative Natural Solutions, and put together an initial five-year business plan with an aggressive marketing strategy.
“We had three basic goals,” Bennett said, “to manage a supply chain for our elderberries, to create a processing plant to supply retail products, and to create our own consumer brand.”
They have been successful in all three endeavors. They have established a production facility in Purdy which operates full-time, year-round, to produce, package and label elderberry products. In numbers which show that Americans are interested in immune-support, for which elderberries are gaining renown, Innovative Natural Solutions produces and supplies approximately 10 – 12,000 bottles of dietary supplements per week from the facility in Purdy. Their main volume, according to Bennett, is in the wellness products category.
In 2016, Innovative Natural Solutions met the owners and co-founders of Norm’s Farms, a North Carolina, family-owned elderberry production business, at a trade show.
“They were in search of a consistent supply for their business,” Bennett said. “It just seemed like a natural fit for us to team up with them, so we began negotiations to do so. In 2017, we acquired a majority share of Norm’s Farms. With the acquisition, we were able to make Norm’s Farms a nature to nurture company, starting from the farm all the way to the finished product you see on the shelves today.”
The elderberry market has exploded since then.
“We now have elderberries planted on acreages in Verona, Monett, Yonkerville and Purdy, as well as on contract-grower sites throughout the United States,” Lueckenhoff said. “We like to separate the acreages, so we don’t risk losing all of our crop production at once due to natural causes, such as a tornado or hailstorm.”
According to Lueckenhoff, the elderberries must all be picked by hand, so it is literally all hands on deck during this time.
“Several people join our team during the harvest season to ensure we don’t get behind,” she said. “In addition to extra seasonal help, Innovative Natural Solutions and Norm’s Farm employ just under 20 people in their sales office and production facility, and that number continues to grow at a rapid pace.”
“We’re now supplying major companies in the nutraceutical space across the United States,” Bennett added. “We want to keep the business in Purdy, though. We may outgrow our production facility, but if we do, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, our motto continues to be ‘Elderberry, every day, for everyone.’”
