The story of Detwiler’s Farm Market is a narrative of grit, family unity and a singular focus for selling as much fresh produce as possible.
Their story began in earnest in 2009 after the Florida grocer lost its lease and restarted in a 5,000-square-foot concrete building that lacked air conditioning and walk-in coolers. It quickly became clear just how inhospitable that space could be during peak heat.
“It was Detwilers’ first pizza oven for produce,” says Sam Detwiler, president of Detwiler’s, describing nights when doors were propped open just to let the heat escape.
By 2010, vice president of purchasing, Caleb Detwiler, says the business hit its lowest point following a devastating freeze that drove tomato prices over $100 a box. Buried in debt and stretched thin, the family gathered for a crossroads conversation. Caleb says his father, Henry, and founder of Detwiler’s, gathered his sons for a turning point: “‘If y’all want this thing, y’all are gonna have to ... put your heart into it.’”
That conversation sparked a shift. The stores still weren’t polished, tables were cobbled together, coolers were repaired with whatever parts they could find, but the Detwilers leaned hard into what they did best: moving staggering amounts of fresh produce, priced aggressively, with genuine hospitality, Sam says.
Growth followed, but not in a conventional way. Their second store, a 2013 Venice expansion, came together almost overnight. Instead of waiting for architects and committees, they set tables, stacked tomatoes and opened the doors while an auction took place next door. Fresh strawberries harvested that morning were sold by afternoon, and customers took notice. The model wasn’t slick, Sam says, but it was undeniably alive.
As new locations opened, the family learned operational lessons in real time. Register systems failed. Layouts evolved. Processes had to be built while business surged around them. At the University Parkway location, when the technology crashed on opening day, Sam remembers simply switching to cash in the aisles and asking customers what they thought their carts were worth. “We didn’t care,” he says. “We were just making customers happy.”
That instinct of meeting people where they are and making it easy to buy produce continued to define the brand. When the pandemic arrived, Detwiler’s quickly shifted to two-lane drive-throughs that served about 700 cars a day in under five minutes each. Efficiency mattered, but the goal was still the same: to keep families stocked with fresh food.
Today, the 49,000-square-foot Palmetto store reflects how far the company has come. A 9,000-square-foot produce department anchors a bustling deli and wellness section, yet the spirit remains rooted in the same principles that carried them through those early, overheated nights: buy fresh, sell fast, serve people well and let the energy of a farm stand live inside a full-scale grocery environment.
For the Detwilers, success hasn’t been about perfection. It has been about adapting, staying close to the work and remembering why customers keep showing up: quality, price and what Sam calls that “warm hug” of service that turns transactions into relationships.
