Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts carves niche in gourmet and gift market

Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts is a classic brand of North Carolina peanuts, one of those native Tar Heel products that people are proud to give to family, friends, co-workers and customers as an expression of love, appreciation or gratitude.

 

The brand is produced by A&B Milling Company in Enfield, N.C. (formerly known as Huckleberry Swamp), a small community in Halifax County. The place is just a hop, skip and a jump off Interstate 95.

 

This family-owned business was established in 1945 as a feed, seed and fertilizer store serving local farmers.

Robert W. Allsbrook Sr. was one of the founders of A&B Milling. He was married to Ruby Thomas Shearin Allsbrook, who was fondly known as “Aunt Ruby.”

Ruby was one of seven children, so there were ample nieces and nephews to whom she was the real Aunt Ruby.

Ruby’s son Bob Allsbrook Jr. (shown below) and his wife, Jackie, assumed control of the company in 1972.

He said since A&B Milling “had been custom-shelling peanuts for farmers to plant” for a number of years and knowing that “North Carolina grows some of the best peanuts in the world, we decided to shift our focus in the early 1980s to selling peanut products, including chocolate-covered nuts.”

There was never any question that the brand would be called Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts, Bob Allsbrook said.

A 1939 graduate of Park View School of Nursing in Rocky Mount, N.C., Ruby was employed as a registered nurse at a medical practice in Enfield. After retiring, Ruby continued to care for patients and their families while serving as a volunteer at Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount.

She also became fully involved in the peanut business. Aunt Ruby would sample the peanuts and declare: “This one is good to me,” Bob Allsbrook said. The company motto became “Good to Me!” and those words are printed on the lid of every can.

He continued: “Perhaps her greatest enjoyment came from working in the chocolate kitchen at Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts where she was the ultimate quality control specialist, as she lovingly inspected all the chocolate clusters, packaged them and weighed them before they left her kitchen.”

Aunt Ruby was the heart of the business, known for her discerning taste and dedication to quality. While she died in 2010 at the age of 93, her legacy continues to guide the business.

Her grandson, Bob Allsbrook III, from the third generation, now serves as company president.

 

Another famous North Carolina brand of peanuts is Hampton Farms. 

The story begins with George Dallas Barnes and his wife, Nita Britt Barnes, who owned farmland near the small town of Severn in rural northeastern Northampton County. They began growing peanuts in 1917.

In 1946, the Barneses joined with three other farm families to start the Severn Peanut Company. Their son, George Dallas “Mutt” Barnes Jr., returned from military service in World War II to join the business. He held the rank of staff sergeant in the Army and was a Pearl Harbor survivor. 

Mutt would serve many years as Severn Peanut Company president.

Today, G. Dallas Barnes, son of Mutt and Elizabeth Prince Barnes, is at the helm, and the company, which is doing business as Hampton Farms, Inc., has grown to become the leading roaster of in-shell peanuts in the United States. 

The company also has processing facilities in: Edenton and Elizabethtown, N.C.; Franklin, Va.; Springfield, Mass.; Lubbock, Texas; and Portales, N.M.

Dallas Barnes said: “Hampton Farms has grown from a small family business to a family of businesses, and together we remain committed to providing America’s finest nut-based food products.”