Carol Floyd

Highlights

Dr. Phillips Company

Plymouth Citrus Growers Cooperative

B&W Canning Company

Evens Packing Company

Golden Gem Growers, Inc.

Umatilla

Florida Agricultural Marketing Association

Florida Farm Bureau Federation

Flash Pasteurization

Rotary Juice Press

Florida State Inspection Division

Florida Agricultural Marketing Association, Inc.

“Florida’s Best”

Bio

Carol Floyd was born in Orlando, Florida, on January 29, 1902 and Carol began his career at the age of sixteen as a grove hand with the Dr. P. Phillips Company in 1918 where he was soon placed in charge of maintaining the grove and packinghouse equipment. In 1929, Floyd was placed in charge of designing and building the plant for the company’s expansion into the citrus canning industry. In 1932, Dr. Phillips sent Floyd on a sales tour to supervise in-store demonstrations of canned citrus products in Western retail outlets. Floyd remained with the Dr. P. Phillips Company until he accepted a position as Plant Manager with Plymouth Citrus Growers Cooperative in 1940. Floyd continued to move his career in the citrus industry forward when he accepted an executive management position with the B & W Canning Company in Groveland, Florida in 1951. In 1957 Carol Floyd became President of the Evens Packing Company in Dade City, Florida, and designed the company’s concentration plant. By 1958 Floyd had designed and built a new grower-owned cooperative, Golden Gem Growers, Inc., in Umatilla, Florida, where he spent eleven years as president of plant operations. Floyd ended his career in the citrus industry as a manager and special advisor for the Florida Agricultural Marketing Association, Inc., a citrus affiliate of Florida Farm Bureau Federation, from 1971 to 1978.

Besides designing fresh fruit houses and canning plants in Florida and Texas, Floyd helped perfect citrus marking equipment. In the early days of citrus fruit processing, he assisted in several major breakthroughs, including development of “flash” pasteurization, the rotary juice press, and numerous techniques and equipment used to improve the concentration process. During World War Two, Floyd helped develop new products for military use, such as citrus crystals and hot pack concentrate, and won the “A” award for his war efforts. Floyd was also one of the first to realize that freeze damaged fruit could be successfully processed. Floyd worked with the Florida State Inspection Division to develop product handling techniques that insured reasonable grower returns and the maintenance of a high quality product. During his time with the Florida Agricultural Marketing Association, Inc., Floyd aided in the expansion all phases of the “Florida’s Best” label. Under Floyd’s leadership, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation’s direct marketing campaign was a tremendous success.
In 1978, Floyd won a special award from Florida Citrus Mutual for 51 years of service to the industry. Carol Floyd was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1976.