Grower Owned.

Grower Focused.

Southern Roots Nut Company

We are a farm-to-table pecan processor…

at Southern Roots, pecans are more than a tasty snack. 

They are a way of life.  They are a family tradition.  

Many of the farms within our grower-owned cooperative, are multi-generation farms that continue the family tradition of growing pecans through tried and true processes and work ethic, but also while leveraging the latest in growing and harvesting technology.  On the shelling and processing side, it’s no different.  Company CEO, Chris Harrell and COO, Brandon Harrell grew up around pecan shelling plants and learned the industry from the ground up, just as their father, Marty Harrell had before them. 

While there is no substitute for hard work, Southern Roots Nut Company embraces technological advancements in the processing side as well to create the highest quality, production, and consistency for our customer’s ever-changing needs.  It’s through this respect and honoring of age-old techniques and pairing with innovative technology that we are able to provide a true, Farm-to-Table experience for our customers at the highest level of food safety, all while maintaining the most competitive pricing.  As an SQF Level 3 processor, Southern Roots can easily meet or exceed even the highest of customer’s quality requirements. 

Meet the Team

  • Chris Harrell

    Chief Executive Officer

    “I started my career with Harrell Nut Company in 1998. From 1998 to 2014, I worked in every department within the company: line labor, sorting technician, cracker mechanic, millwright, maintenance, accounts payables, procurement, productions supervisor, shipping, receiving, food safety, quality, etc. I served as the general manager, procurement manager, and food safety and quality director for Harrell Nut’s facility in El Paso, TX, from 2007 to 2014. I am HACCP certified and a licensed SQF Practitioner.

    In 2014, Harrell Nut Company was acquired by Golden Peanut & Tree Nuts, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM SE). I served as the Commercial and Risk Manager for the North American Pecan division of ADM from 2014 to 2020. In October 2020, I started Southern Roots Nut Company, LLC, as a pecan brokerage company and have served as its CEO since.”

  • Brandon Harrell

    Chief Operations Officer

    Brandon Harrell “legally” started in the pecan industry in 1996 although his introduction to the industry started when he was a small child. His father, Marty Harrell had all 3 of his sons around pecan shelling plants from the time they could barely walk. It’s a miracle, their first words weren’t “PECAN”.

    All Harrell boys learned the pecan shelling business from the ground up as their father had. This perspective helped each Harrell brother be a contributing factor to Harrell Nut Company’s growth. Brandon served as the Vice-President, co-owner, and Sales Manager for Harrell Nut Company, which later sold to ADM in 2014.

    After leaving his longtime home in south-Georgia and ADM in early 2018, he changed careers into real estate and moved to Dothan, AL. The pecan industry has been called a sickness, rather than a career and as luck would have it, Brandon is terminal and found his way back into the pecan industry as the President of Sales for Southern Roots Nut Company in 2020. As Southern Roots opened a shipping and receiving warehouse in Dothan, AL, Brandon assumed an additional role as Chief Operations Officer for Southern Roots where he currently serves.

  • Tony Howling

    Senior VP Commercial Operations

    Tony Howling brings a wealth of experience in the pecan industry in a wide variety of areas. Like the Harrell brothers, Tony learned the pecan industry from all angles including operations, sales, logistics, and much more. This unique perspective equipped him to provide customers with real time assistance from a position of experience. This knowledge and attention to detail quickly endeared him with customers, growers, vendors, and colleagues alike. It’s been said that respect is earned and Tony has certainly earned it in with his eagerness to learn and serve.

    2002-2014: Worked as a key part of Harrell Nut Company’s team in various positions such as Manager for logistics team, Customer Service Manager, Inventory Control, and even filled in as a backup for the plant manager.

    2014-2020: Following ADM’s acquisition of Harrell Nut Company, Tony transitioned into a new role as the Manager for Commercial Procurement. He also served as the Sales Manager in Georgia.

    2021-Current: Continued using the extensive experience in a variety of areas to serve as the Senior VP of Commercial Operations. In this position, Tony is heavily involved in planning, logistics, procurement, customer services, sales, and Quality Assurance.

Our Roots Run Deep.

Our roots in the pecan shelling business date back to 1973 when Brandon and Chris’ father, Marty Harrell, started working in a small pecan shelling plant in Camilla, GA.  Within just a few years, Marty worked his way up through the company ranks and became the company’s COO and was responsible for building and the operations of each of their pecan shelling plants throughout the United States.  After 21 years with that company, Marty started Harrell Nut Company in 1994. 

By providing customers all over the world with excellent service and quality, while maintaining competitive pricing, Harrell Nut Company quickly became an industry leader and one of the most successful pecan shelling operations in the business. Marty’s three sons, Brandon, Chris, and Adam were trained in the industry as their father was.  They learned the business from the ground up and were trained in all aspects of operations, procurement, and sales.  In 2008, Marty made his sons partners in Harrell Nut Company.  In 2014, Harrell Nut Company was acquired by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a publicly traded company based in Decatur, IL, and Harrell Nut was integrated into ADM’s Golden Peanut & Tree Nut brand.  In 2020, Marty’s son Chris left ADM and formed Southern Roots Nut Company with his brother Brandon, who had left ADM in 2018. 

Southern Roots was originally started as a brokerage firm.  When approached by some of the most successful pecan growers in the United States with the opportunity to start a large-scale grower-owned cooperative, the Harrell brothers jumped at the opportunity to re-enter the commercial shelling space once again and continue building off their family’s stellar legacy in the pecan industry. In November of 2021, Southern Roots acquired its first pecan shelling plant in Las Cruces, NM.  This state-of-the-art processing and distribution facility is SQF Level 3 certified and is fully automated. 

This facility provides high production output while maintaining superior consistency in production and quality, all while maintaining the highest level of food safety.  In 2023, Southern Roots acquired a 120,000 square foot cold storage in Dothan, AL to offer storage and distribution out of the Southeast.