If you appreciate quality local produce fresh from the field, flowers and planters grown with care and expertise, a selection of artisan salsa, honey, preserves and other treats carefully curated for your enjoyment, and scrumptious homemade ice cream, then Heritage Fresh Market is the place for you. It’s located on the corner of Highway 17 and Sellers Road in Supply. We asked Lauren Clemmons to tell us how it came to be:

My husband Jody’s father, Waddell, and his father farmed this land long before Highway 17 was four lanes. The foundation of the farm, including a tobacco barn, was on the corner where the market is now. We saw the growth that was exploding all around us, and the opportunity to restructure our farming and sell directly to the public.

We began by selling strawberries at an open-air stand on our farm, about a mile from the main road. We started harvesting our first crop on March 15, 2020, just as the country was shutting down. Gratefully, thanks to social media and word of mouth, people came and stood six feet apart and waited for hours for our strawberries to come out of the field.

Jody, along with his mom’s cousins, designed and built the market, which opened in November 2020. Beautiful white pine walls, a black walnut countertop in the center of a sun-lit and spacious room, and cypress accents on the wide exterior porch are meant to make you feel at home. We only offer what’s in season, and it’s all high quality; Jody and his son Cole, both NC State agriculture graduates, make sure of it. When you have both a farm and a market it’s extremely personal. You’re connected to the product from seed to harvest to your customer’s table, and it’s so gratifying when they come back and tell you how delicious something was.

We also offer a carefully selected collection of North Carolina based products, and rarely have competing items on the shelf; if we’re selling one type of pimento cheese, it’s because we think it’s the best. And I saved the sweetest for last – my daughter Katie’s ice cream! It’s made from clean, fresh ingredients, in small batches, by hand. She received help with her recipes from a customer who owned a very successful ice cream shop many years ago and is now a wonderful mentor to Katie and treasured family friend.

From the farm to the Market, we have the absolute best team that makes it all possible; many of them have been with us for more than a decade, and they are family. And we’re so grateful for our customers, they’re the ones that keep our hands in the dirt and feet on the ground. These can be challenging times, and we want the Market to be a place people can walk in the door and feel our joy that comes from serving our community by doing what we love.