Nestled in Edgefield County, J.W. Yonce & Sons, Inc., operating in Johnston, SC, is in the heart of peach country, and over the decades has grown from a small peach orchard to a flourishing commercial organization with more than 3,800 acres.

The company is well known for its Big Smile brand peaches and being a leading provider of South Carolina’s most famous fruit, and looks forward to a strong crop this year.

“Things look normal and it’s probably going to resemble the 2016 crop with its ripping timing but is it going to be as much volume as we had in ’16? Probably not,” said Sonny Yonce, co-president of the company. “I think ‘The Ridge’ section considers itself a nice crop of marketable fruit.”

Late April had some cool weather, with the end of the month recording low 40-degree temperatures, and that could slow down the harvest. Compared to 2016, April saw some 80-degree days, so it’s a noticeable difference.

“This crop had its chance to die, but it survived and we’re extremely pleased so far,” he said. “Normally, we’ll pack over a million packages and it’s been that way for most of the last 10 years. In ’17, it didn’t give us about 35 percent of our crop, but we feel we will have a full crop this summer. Maybe not on every variety, but we believe we’ll pack over a million this summer.”

The company has long achieved success in the industry and Yonce credits that with staff being persistent and determined, and noted a great deal of workers have been with J.W. Yonce & Sons for more than 15 years and take pride in providing a consistent, high-quality product.

“When you compare a South Carolina peach to other regions, I think our taste is always consistent and strong,” Yonce said. “Our company strives for two things — to have consistency in every box and pack fresh in a timely fashion.”

This will be the first year the company is packing on the Global Partnership for Safe and Sustainable Agriculture (GlobalG.A.P.) and is excited about that and feels it adds another dimension to its products.

In 2018, the company will be packing more of its fruit in smaller commercial-sized two-pound bags in response to customers looking for smaller qualities. Additionally, there will be more of the “fuzzy field run” pack, with 25 in volume, where peaches come right off the tree and are sent to roadside and farm stand operators.

“Several of our buyers have requested this,” Yonce said. “We’re going to start packing in the next week or so and we’ll be packing all the way through September.”

Over the years, J.W.Yonce & Sons has been primarily known for sourcing the North, but this year, it’s going to market for the first time in the South.