Company Overview
In 1999, Greg Quinn, a culinary and horticulture expert, also known as WNYW’s “Garden Guy,” grew interested in black currants and founded The Currant Company, located in Clinton, New York, an area in the Hudson Valley well-known for its culinary and farming heritage (the Culinary Institute of America and specialty farms, ranging from garlic and wine to goat cheese, are nearby). Working with leading experts in the field, he decided to attempt to bring back the U.S. black currant industry by first getting the ban lifted in New York State, giving hope to a struggling New York farming industry with the first, potentially-viable crop to come along in more than a half century.
In the late 1800s, New York was the nation’s top black currant producer, Greg Quinn and his team could envision bushes repopulating tens of thousands of acres or more just in this state alone. Greg saw this as the first crop to come along in over a half century that could provide New York farmers with a viable alternative to many of the crops, which are now unprofitable. Crop failures and losses have not only led to the closing and selling off of hundreds of small farms in New York each year, but also the permanent loss of open spaces as these prime, open lands are snapped up by developers.
