CHARLESTON, S.C. (8/13/2024) — Aligned Ag Distributors (AAD), a national ag distribution company, is adding a new owner, Carolina Eastern, Inc. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Carolina Eastern brings unique service and geographic footprints to the group. And it strengthens AAD’s position that already enables owners to create new cost efficiencies in providing crop protection products, fertilizer and other key crop inputs to their customers from California to the east coast.

“The Carolina Eastern team embodies the balance between independence, collaborative spirit and practical innovation that is a common thread among all AAD owners,” said AAD President Mary Tolke. “Adding Carolina Eastern, Inc. — one of the most respected ag businesses in the Southeast — to our ownership group will create new benefits for all of our owners.”

The Carolina Eastern story is one of deep family roots in agriculture and innovation to adapt to changing customer needs over time, according to Executive Vice President Butch Rodgers, who manages the company’s crop protection, seed and specialty products division based in Scranton, South Carolina.

“We’ve had success because of the foundation these gentlemen laid,” Rodgers said of his father and Carolina Eastern President Al Phillips’ father who founded the company together in November 1972. “Al’s son Alton joined the company in 2014, and we’re really excited to have the third generation come into the business. We are truly a family-owned business and have been all along.”

Rodgers said becoming part of AAD — which his company will do officially on October 1, 2024 — will strengthen Carolina Eastern’s role as an independent ag retailer by bolstering the 52-year-old company’s competitiveness at the farm gate at a time when the pressure of consolidation weighs on other retailers like his.

“It’s a battle sometimes to be competitive, especially in the crop protection market. In this industry, there’s strength in numbers,” said Rodgers, who describes Carolina Eastern customers as progressive family farmers in tune with the latest technology and equipment. “We feel like being an AAD owner will give us a strong arm to lean on that will put us in a more competitive situation in the crop protection market so we can not only maintain but continue to grow our business.”

Carolina Eastern has 30 retail locations primarily located in South Carolina. Seven years ago, Carolina Eastern created Crop Excellence, a line of branded adjuvants, foliar nutrients, nitrogen stabilizers, biologicals and seed treatments. Carolina Eastern services a diversity of crops including corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco, peanuts and hay/forage crops. Cutting-edge tools are key to the Carolina Eastern roster of products and services, including soil/tissue sampling, drone service, precision planting, and precision fertilizer and chemical applications.

Carolina Eastern’s addition to the AAD ownership group continues its growth and complements existing owner Willard Agri-Service in the northeastern U.S., Tolke added.

“Our owners all share an independent spirit. When they’re all at the same table, they learn from each other and share a lot of knowledge that makes everyone better,” she said. “Carolina Eastern will be a welcome addition to the AAD owner team and we’re excited to have them on board.”

Learn more about Carolina Eastern at carolina-eastern.com, Crop Excellence Specialty Products at cropexcellence.com.