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Fruitful Enterprise: Parkersburg business, Putnam County farm team up for jam sessions

By Brett Dunlap 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Pineapple jam, made from pineapples grown in West Virginia …

A partnership between Gritt's Farm in Buffalo, W.Va., and In A Jam of Parkersburg resulted in a creation which representatives from both groups felt was unique in promoting West Virginia food products.

The two companies came together to produce a limited-edition Pineapple Jam using pineapples grown at Gritt's Farm.

"I try to do jams and jellies made with locally grown fruits," said In A Jam owner Andrea Duke.

She had met Brad Gritt with Gritt's Farm a number of years back and had sold some products to the farm.

"(Gritt's Farm) took on a project a couple of years ago to grow a crop of pineapples in one of their greenhouses and they were successful with that," Duke said. "They reached out to me about doing a pineapple jam and collaborating together.

"They grew the pineapples, I went down and we got to pick them and we made the jam out of it so we could offer this locally grown pineapple product together."

In A Jam started first as a hobby and then became a business in 2016. It started with a few jars of Strawberry Jam at a local farmers market and has grown to now include around 20 varieties of jams available throughout several regions of the U.S. The jams and jellies are crafted in small batches.

Duke had not done a pineapple jam before and had concerns if she would be able to do it and how it would come out. It turned out to be a success without having to do too much work to perfect the process.

"It was something new," she said. "I was really nervous about it. I didn't know how the consistency would work out or how it would set up, but it did really well.

"The test batch came out perfect."

Brad Gritt, general manager for Gritt's Farms, said they have been doing hydroponics in greenhouses since the 1980s and have been doing citrus fruits over the past few years, including lemons, limes, grapefruits and more.

It has taken a couple of years to grow the pineapples they have and the fruit was ripening this year.

Pineapple bushes have the ability to produce several pineapples per year, said Alexandra Pfost, marketing and agritourism manager for Gritt's Farm. They were looking at the best ways they could get them into the hands of the most people.

Gritt had met Duke in 2018 and she had done some work for him related to his wedding and thought a jam would be the best use of the pineapples they had grown.

Duke did around 200 jars of jam that went on sale at the farm on April 8.

"They sold quite a bit of it that day," she said.

It was well received by their customers and was described as "delicious" by some of their customers, Gritt said.

"It is a unique product," he said. "We are always looking for fun things to do with food."

Gritt's Farms will be hosting a farm dinner this month where the chef will include some of the pineapple jam in one of the dishes. Gritt said tickets for that dinner have already sold out.

There was enough pineapple left to do an additional 150 jars, bringing the total up to 350 jars, Duke said.

"They contacted me and we are going to do some more with what we had left," she said. "It is very limited, but it was this opportunity to put together two small West Virginia businesses and do this product that you would not normally be able to make in West Virginia."

Since it takes a couple years to grow pineapples, both Gritt and Duke said it could be another two years or so before they could do the jam again.

It was important for Duke to do this project because her whole business is based on having good West Virginia products and being a part of the West Virginia Grown program with the state Department of Agriculture.

"It was a unique opportunity to be able to work with another business and make something that people can enjoy that isn't normally available in our area," she said.

It also ties into the mission of Gritt's Farm to deliver unique products and experiences to the people of West Virginia, Pfost said.

"Pineapple growing is another piece to the Gritt's Farm story and speaks to the family's innovative practices,'' she said. "Gritt's Farm takes pride in trying new things, supporting fellow local businesses, and creating special experiences right here in our home state."

The jam is available, while supplies last, online at www.grittsfarm.com.

Duke will have some of the pineapple jam available Saturday at The Minted Vintage Market event at the Wood County 4-H grounds on Butcher Bend Road in Mineral Wells. The jam costs $8.99 a jar. She will also have some of her other varieties of jams available.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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