Grimmway Farms Weedpatch Carrot Plant, California

Grimmway is the largest grower, producer, and shipper of carrots in the world. “Baby carrots” (actually small cylinders carved from larger, mature carrots) account for about 70 percent of its carrot sales; the format is credited with a 33-percent increase in U.S. carrot consumption. Next to its carrot plant, Grimmway also has a 30,000-square-foot juice plant, for turning irregular veggies into soup bases, Campbell’s V8, and purees. The resulting dehydrated and pelletized carrot pumice is sold as cattle feed. At Grimmway, carrots from nearby fields pass through a rock remover before entering an ambient temperature room to be washed and have their green tops removed. They are then sized, sorted, and cut as necessary, before entering a hydrocooler. After spending 10 minutes passing through the hydrocooler, the carrots are flumed over to different refrigerated buildings, kept between 33 and 36 degrees, in order to be de-watered, peeled, and further processed before packaging.