It starts in the soil, but innovation is the driver of a prolific food and beverage industry.
For a uniquely American success story, look no further than Helena, Arkansas, and Delta Dirt Distillery. Co-founder Harvey Williams was told by people around him that he was “crazy” to think that he could establish a vodka business that might also help to revive his challenged, rural Helena, once a thriving, bluesy enclave in the northern Mississippi Delta, where the Williams family has farmed for generations.
But in the course of a few short years, Delta Dirt’s Sweet Blend Vodka, distilled from sweet potatoes raised on the family farm, has racked up awards at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competiton, among others, while Williams has expanded into gin and whiskey and new markets in the South, even as far as Pennsylvania. Tours are filtering through and online delivery is coming. On Fridays and weekends, Delta Dirt’s cocktail room on Helena’s Cherry Street welcomes the curious.
After all, sweet potato vodka?
“We wanted to get some value added from what we grow on the farm,” Williams explains. “When we started, our vodka was 100% sweet potato, and to us it tasted too earthy, so we blended it with corn. It tastes nothing like sweet potatoes, but it does have what I’d call a sweet finish.”
Williams comes from a long line of strivers and innovators. Great-grandfather “Papa” Joe Williams sharecropped an original 86 acres in the late 1800s. Grandfather U.D. Williams was able to purchase the land through his sharecropping funds and a side gig hustling corn whiskey. Father Harvey, Sr. preserved the farm’s viability, challenging the Delta’s traditional model of corn, soybeans and wheat and branching out into sweet potatoes and squash, which he would come to distribute nationally.
“You could take small acres,” his son says, “and sustain it and maintain your family.”
Harvey’s brother, Kennard, has since expanded the farm to 600 acres. Harvey’s wife, Donna, is Delta Dirt Distillery’s co-founder and chief marketing officer. Sons Thomas and Donavan are part of the management team.
Arkansas, Williams believes, is a great state for entrepreneurs such as himself. The state Department of Agriculture, he says, recently supported a trip to Miami for an international marketing exposition. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission has offered business advice.
“What you have here,” he says, “is a solid business climate and a state that’s supportive. It’s an affordable place to live, there’s great diversity and a good quality of life. It’s a place where, if you’re willing to get off the sidelines, you can be a catalyst for change in your community. You can make it an enjoyable place to be if you’re willing to rethink it.”
A Leader in Poultry, Rice, Eggs and More
Arkansas has long been a food and beverage powerhouse. As of the end of 2023, the state boasted 476 food and beverage companies that, combined, employ more than 55,000 workers. Including cash receipts, salaries and other induced effects, the sector contributes more than 14% of Arkansas’ GDP.
Helping to drive food and beverage is Arkansas’ rich agricultural sector.
Not for nothing is Arkansas known as the “Rice Capital of the United States.” It accounts for nearly half of America’s rice production, while also leading the nation in rice exports. Valued at more than $6 billion, the rice industry is a major employer. Riceland Foods, headquartered in Stuttgart, Arkansas, operates one of the world’s largest rice mills in Jonesboro and reported revenues of $1.3 billion in 2023. Other top crops in Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Farm Bureau, include soybeans ($2 billion), corn ($790 million), cotton ($504 million) and wheat ($60 million).
Few states outperform Arkansas for poultry and poultry processing. According to the Poultry Foundation, the Arkansas poultry industry provides more than $5.1 billion in cash receipts annually. That ranks first or second nationally, depending on the source of the rankings. Major companies in the poultry processing sector include Springdale-based Tyson Foods, Simmons Foods — headquartered in Siloam Springs — Butterball, Peco Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride. Arkansas also ranks first or second for egg production.
A Wave of Major Investments
As a longtime investor in Arkansas, Tyson is poised to open a new $70 million hatchery that’s to employ 60 people in the small town of Hope. The company’s annual payroll in Arkansas is $1.4 billion, with its overall economic impact estimated at $2.1 billion.
Hope Baking Company is investing more than $37 million to expand its food manufacturing facility. The expansion is expected to create 266 new jobs over two years. The facility is to output a range of bakery items. (See p. 22 of this guide for more).
“Companies are expanding their footprints and creating jobs across the Natural State,” said Gov. Sarah Sanders in a release. “I’m proud that Hope Baking Company is choosing to do the same in South Arkansas as we cut taxes, slash red tape and invest in our workforce.”
Westrock Coffee is another Arkansas food and beverage success story. In June, the company based in Little Rock unveiled a massive coffee roasting and “ready-to-drink” facility in Conway, which it describes as the largest such facility in North America. The expansion represents a whopping investment of $315 million. The 570,000-sq.ft. factory is just two miles from the company’s recently opened 530,000-sq.ft. warehousing and distribution facility. It boasts what Westrock describes as a “comprehensive beverage development laboratory.”
Westrock sources its coffee beans exclusively from Rwanda, where the company says it pays employees 20% above the local labor market and provides health care and pension funds. Once processed, those beans are shipped to Arkansas, where they’re roasted, packaged and sold to more than 1,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.
“What you have here is a solid business climate and a state that’s supportive.”
— Harvey Williams, Co-founder, Delta Dirt Distillery
Keeping it Cool
Arkansas’ strategic location in the South-Central U.S. makes it a natural location for food distribution. In August of 2024, Colorado-based Wild Pastures, a regenerative meat delivery service dealing in 100% grass-fed and pasture-raised meat, announced plans to create 20 new jobs over the next two years through a $13 million investment in a distribution facility in the town of Clinton in north-central Arkansas.
