History

Did you ever wonder how Plant City, Florida became the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World? It all started over a hundred years ago, when Henry Plant decided to build a railroad to Tampa. The new railroad offered unique potential for local growers to market their winter morsels of sunshine.

The sweetest, most luscious strawberries around

The Plant City-Dover area is a mecca for the sweetest, most luscious strawberries around. Moreover, strawberries remain the commodity that made this community a family. In 1982, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) was officially formed. This organization became a voice for Florida strawberry growers. The mission for the handful of farmers was to become "partners in research, promotion and member/community service”.

Representing over 8,000 acres of berries

In the years since then, the growers have met that mission and succeeded in forming a voluntary organization that represents over 8,000 acres of berries. We hope you enjoy our website filled with interesting strawberry information and if it doesn’t answer all of your questions we hope it points you in the right direction.

Yes, the statistics are impressive. Hillsborough County produces about 15 percent of the nation’s strawberries and virtually all the berries grown during the winter. The commodity has an impact on our community exceeding $272 million. The 18 million flats produced each year, if placed end to end, would extend from Plant City to Seattle and back again.

Steadily increasing in value

But most impressive is the fact that although production in this strawberry community has been going strong for over a century, the value of the commodity has more than tripled in the last two decades, and could well double in the next decade. If anything, the community’s claim as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the World" seems stronger. If you make every recipe from our cookbook every year, you will be doing your part to keep it that way!