Locally Made Food Products Draw National Attention
carolina packers inc., food, ginny johnson, hinnant family vineyards,
In the 1850s, Ginny Johnson’s great-grandmother made extraordinarily delicious cheese rings from simple ingredients - flour, cheddar cheese, margarine and spices.
So when Johnson’s friend was looking for homemade cheese straws to sell in her Raleigh gift shop, Johnson dug out her family’s 150-year-old recipe and whipped up several batches. Soon she was making them in bulk for parties.
When orders for the cheese rings became overwhelming, Johnson took an early retirement from her job at a Raleigh airport and launched her business, Ginny O’s Cheese Rings Inc., in Selma in 2003.
“I was working on airplanes during the day and baking the cheese rings when I got home at 2 a.m.,” she says.
Word really began to spread about the addictive snack when Oprah Winfrey’s magazine featured the cheese rings in a 2003 issue after Johnson sent five pounds of them to the talk show host and media mogul. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Johnson still bakes the cheese rings fresh to order, though a machine allows her to turn out between 25,000 and 30,000 rings a day.
In nearby Benson, Jenny Campbell’s sweet treats are also drawing attention. Campbell owns Jenny’s Sweet Creations, a popular bakery specializing in handmade candies, butter mints, fudge, cookies and more than a dozen different flavors of decorated cakes.
“We make red velvet, coconut, pineapple, Hershey-bar cake, pound cake, lemon, fresh strawberry and a really rich peanut butter brownie cake with homemade peanut butter icing, chocolate ganache and ground peanut butter cups,” Campbell says. “We can make about anything. We add new flavors as customers request them.”
In Smithfield, Carolina Packers Inc. makes high-quality Bright Leaf brand hot dogs, bologna, smoked sausage and spicy Red Hots - shorter and thicker than a hot dog, with a touch of heat.
“The hot dogs are what we’re best known for,” says Jimmy Butler, sales manager for Carolina Packers Inc. “It’s a unique blend of herbs and spices that makes our hot dogs special, and they have half the fat of other hot dogs on the market.”
Other food and beverage products made in Johnston County include 13 varieties of wine at Hinnant Family Vineyards, and traditionally milled mixes for muffins, hushpuppies and pancakes at Atkinson Milling Co.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Ian Curcio
