Putting in 70-plus-hour weeks has propelled CEO Alfie Oakes to top $200 million in his produce, food service and distribution, packing, shipping and retail operations. In five years, he’s gone from growing 50 acres and packing 90,000 cases of produce to 4,000 acres and 5.5 million cases, providing livelihoods to 700 employees.

This year, Alfie is poised to open a regional foodie paradise. Three years in the making, Seed to Table store and restaurant in North Naples on Immokalee Road will be a singular destination, which required special permitting attention.

“It’s not a restaurant; it’s not a grocery store,” he explains. “It didn’t fit in the boxes well,” said the founder of Oakes Farms, Alfie Oakes.

Read the full article written by Cathy Chestnut in Grandeur magazine HERE.

photo by: Amanda Inscore