By Troy Turner
Forestwood Farm Inc., a family-owned company based in Birmingham, won a $185 million Department of Defense contract to provide fresh fruits and vegetables.
The five-year contract runs from fiscal 2024 through 2029 using defense capital funds approved by the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, which is based in Philadelphia.
The contract continues a relationship that goes back several years in which the DoD has used Forestwood Farm to provide food supplies, including previous multi-million-dollar deals similar to this one.
The company in 2017, for example, inked a $72 million contract to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to supply the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Department of Agriculture schools.
Forestwood Farm was created in 1970 when Everett Scott Sr. and his wife Hazel began the business selling eggs from their home. Forestwood since then has grown into one of the largest produce distributors in the state of Alabama.
Forestwood sells fresh produce, vegetables, eggs, milk and other dairy products to restaurants, schools and military facilities in the Southeast, according to company reports.
Its Birmingham base of operations includes a 55,000-square-foot facility, and the company has grown to include two additional sites, including a 33,000-square-foot facility in Huntsville and a third site in Jackson, Tenn.
Today the business is owned by Everett Scott Jr. and Randy Scott.
