Family started with peanuts to create gourmet food business

by Doug Forshey
Virginia Business Options
December 2006

When The Peanut Patch in Courtland needed a new identity, the company came up with an unusual name: FERIDIES. It is not a name that some consulting group ginned up using a computer. Instead, it stands for two generations of family members involved in the 33-year-old business.

FER comes from Alice Shaffer and her husband Paul. RID refers to Alice's parents, company founders Judy Riddick and the late Bob Riddick. The last three letters, IES, stand for Judy's other daughter, Jane Riddick-Fries and her husband, Ted. So you have ShafFER, RIDdick and FrIES.

The name is part of a rebranding process begun last year as the company expanded its specialty food lines and adopted a more sophisticated approach to marketing. That process continues with the recent announcement of a $3.2 million expansion of the company's facility in the Southampton Business Park in Southampton County. The move will increase processing capacity and create 25 new jobs. That will add to the approximately 55 full-time and seasonal workers that the company currently employs.
"The rebranding is another step in our repositioning for the future," says Judy Riddick, the company president. "Our success as a family-owned and -operated company, the demand for the Virginia-type peanut and the rebranding have allowed us to expand our specialty food product lines and to market more effectively."

The family operates a mail order business and a Web site under the FERIDIES name and a gift shop in Courtland that is still called the Peanut Patch, tracing its history back to the beginning of the company.

In 1973, the Riddick family started a small gift shop and furniture stripping business in Courtland. Twin brothers Bob and Bill, along with their wives, Judy and Gaynelle, invested in the downtown location that had once been a store owned by their grandfather. They called the store The Peanut Patch and quickly went to work creating a name for themselves selling Virginia peanuts.

By 1980 they had expanded the business to offer their products by mail order and began promoting Virginia-style peanuts on a national level. They began selling their products internationally 10 years ago.

Judy and Bob's goal was to spread the word about the Virginia peanut, known for its large size and crunchy texture, mostly grown in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Judy, along with several other Virginia food manufacturers, organized the Food and Libations Association of Virginia (now know as the Virginia Food and Beverage Association) in 1984 and were the first Virginia peanut company to exhibit at the National Association of Specialty Food gourmet trade show in New York. In 1987, Bill and Gaynelle Riddick sold their half of the business to Judy and Bob.

As their business grew, the Riddicks looked for a larger facility to house their gift shop and expand their processing operation. The Peanut Patch moved to its current location on Route 58 in Courtland in 1994.

The second generation of Riddicks came on board in 2000. Jane and Ted Fries brought experience in retail operations and product development to the company. Jane is the vice president of sales and marketing, and Ted serves as the director of product research and development. Alice and Paul Shaffer also joined the company, bringing with them backgrounds in information systems and finance. Alice is vice president and retail sales manager and Paul is the company CFO.

"FERIDIES is a home-grown Virginia company," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said at a news conference announcing the expansion. "Southampton County's history as one of the world's largest peanut-producing counties has been a great fit for this family-owned business for 33 years."