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Food Processing Line Lu Mil Vineyard is branching out once again with the addition of a food processing facility to its diverse line of products and services offered to its customers.D’Vine Foods, a processing business that will take freshly grown North Carolina fruits and vegetables and safely pasteurize and package them under FDA guidelines, will be located adjacent to the ice plant in Elizabethtown. Since the ice production plant is idle for much of the year due to the seasonal nature of the ice business, the location will be perfect for the pasteurization process of the processing facility, Lu Mil President Ron Taylor said.“The ice business is very seasonal; only 2 to 3 months per year,” he said. “Then 90 percent of that refrigeration equipment is idle, which is when you need to be processing fruits and vegetables.”Click to learn more...After the opening of Lu Mil, the family searched for someone to make jams, jellies and pasteurized juice from their famous, home-grown grapes under FDA guidelines, but was unable to find such a company anywhere in the state. They even discovered that many of the products with “Goodness Grows in N.C.” labels were processed in North Carolina, but were not made from locally grown products in the state.“If you buy these products now in a specialty shop, grocery store or farmers market, you don’t know where the products come from,” Taylor said. “Much of it comes from China or other foreign countries where their inspections may or may not meet U.S. standards.”Beginning to process their own fruits on a small scale, they quickly started feeling the demand from other farmers throughout the state who wished to have their own private-label products, business began to expand.“We want to sell N.C. products that we know are handled in a safe way,” Taylor said.D’Vine Foods will provide its services to local blueberry and strawberry farmers, along with “virtually any farmer in the area growing any fruits or vegetables.” Just a few of the products that will be made are jams and jellies; ciders and juices; sauces; dressings; relish; syrups; and spreads.“So, if you have a special recipe of Grandma’s you want packaged, bring it to D’Vine Foods, and we will process it in an FDA-inspected kitchen and even put Grandma’s picture on the jar,” Taylor added.The facility, which is planned to be in full production by grape harvest time, will be managed by Alvin Shepherd, who has more than 16 years experience in the food business.