Owners include third  generation Hilliard family members

CLEWISTON, Fla. (October 6, 2016) - A group of prominent South Florida growers and agricultural investors with over 100 years of farming success to their credit has formed HBS Florida Specialties, LLC to purchase Florida Specialties, LLC  and its Blue Ribbon Beans brand. The seller is Myles Strohl, who purchased Florida Specialties, LLC in 2009 and introduced the Blue Ribbon Beans product in 2010.

The new company is a combination of principals from AgGator Farming Inc., Little Cypress Farms and four members of the Hilliard family - Joe Marlin Hilliard, son of the company’s namesake brothers Joe A. and Marlin Hilliard, his daughter Mary Elizabeth Hilliard Carroll, and sons Joe Marlin Hilliard II and Bryan Hilliard.

The Hilliard family began their farming and ranching business in 1932, growing to incorporate more than 20,000 acres in Hendry and Glades counties. Along with cattle, citrus, sod and sugarcane, they have been an industry leader in row crops since the 1980’s. In 1995, they added green beans to a vegetable division that currently includes bell peppers, squash, cucumbers  and eggplant. Hilliard Brothers of Florida grows on average 2800+ acres of green beans annually. "Our ability to diversify our crops and utilize the latest farming techniques available has kept us a top producer in the vegetable industry,” says Bryan Hilliard, who will manage HBS Florida Specialties, LLC.