Carolina Gold rice is the oldest medium-grain rice grown in the Americas. In 1685, a slave ship hailing from Madagascar used its load of rice to pay for ship repairs in Charleston, South Carolina. The grain was then planted and began to flourish as far south as Augusta, Georgia, and as far north as Virginia’s Tidewater region. Carolina Gold rice became a major cash crop and export across the globe. Farms east of current day I-95 became known as “The Rice Kingdom”, with an estimated 100,000 acres dedicated to the crop in the mid-1800s. Carolina Gold is the original rice to the Americas, meaning that most of the rice grown in America today is a variant of Carolina Gold.
The inception of Tidewater Grain Company began as a means to make the economics work for our small, family-focused hunt club in Eastern North Carolina. This region of the state was once a major producer of Carolina Gold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the emancipation of slaves, a series of hurricanes, and the boom of mechanized commodity farming, rice farming ended in the Carolinas. We made it our mission to bring it back. In 2018, we planted our first crop, and today, we are involved in every step of the process – from planting and harvesting to milling, packaging, shipping, direct wholesale, consumer retail, and education.
Vendor Biography
Carolina Gold rice is the oldest medium-grain rice grown in the Americas. In 1685, a slave ship hailing from Madagascar used its load of rice to pay for ship repairs in Charleston, South Carolina. The grain was then planted and began to flourish as far south as Augusta, Georgia, and as far north as Virginia’s Tidewater region. Carolina Gold rice became a major cash crop and export across the globe. Farms east of current day I-95 became known as “The Rice Kingdom”, with an estimated 100,000 acres dedicated to the crop in the mid-1800s. Carolina Gold is the original rice to the Americas, meaning that most of the rice grown in America today is a variant of Carolina Gold.
The inception of Tidewater Grain Company began as a means to make the economics work for our small, family-focused hunt club in Eastern North Carolina. This region of the state was once a major producer of Carolina Gold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the emancipation of slaves, a series of hurricanes, and the boom of mechanized commodity farming, rice farming ended in the Carolinas. We made it our mission to bring it back. In 2018, we planted our first crop, and today, we are involved in every step of the process – from planting and harvesting to milling, packaging, shipping, direct wholesale, consumer retail, and education.