Business Buzz Hardeeville

Rollen’s RAW Grains Offers Carolina Gold Rice, Fresh Local Produce and Lowcountry Heritage Experiences at New Retail Location in Hardeeville, S.C.

April 18, 2023
Capricorn Communications

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – Rollen’s RAW Grains, the Lowcountry’s newest heritage foods destination, offers signature locally grown items like Carolina Gold Rice, Sea Island Red Peas and Sea Island Yellow Guinea Flint Grits, in addition to fresh local eggs, yogurt and produce at a new retail store located at 3333 S. Okatie Hwy. in Hardeeville, S.C. The bright, inviting country store features spacious front and back porches. Future plans include adding a large fire pit for oyster roasts and locally sponsored events with farm-to-table heritage meals.   

Fourth-generation farmer Marion “Rollen” Chalmers, who owns Rollen’s RAW Grains with his wife Frances Chalmers, grows Carolina Gold heritage rice on more than 40 acres of land in the South Carolina Lowcountry. He provides high-quality rice to top restaurants across the South and has been featured in Garden & Gun and on The TODAY Show for planting, growing and harvesting Carolina Gold rice and bringing back this once-prized heritage crop. A direct descendent of Gullah residents in South Carolina who trace their roots back to slavery and West Africa, Chalmers is one of the most experienced and respected growers of heritage rice in the United States.  

All Rollen’s RAW Grains products are non-GMO, gluten-free and preservative-free and are grown and harvested using traditional Lowcountry rice-growing techniques. Rollen’s RAW Grains will also host agritourism experiences for groups, ranging from outdoor farm-to-table heritage meals to tours of Lowcountry heritage rice fields. Rollen’s RAW Grains is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We want to bring fresh, local, seasonal items to Rollen’s RAW Grains and provide sustainable foods to the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire,” Chalmers explains. “I love talking to people and sharing what I’ve learned from years of farming. I’ve searched all over, and I’ve never found anything like what we have here.”

Originally from Hardeeville, S.C., Chalmers has been farming since the age of 19, and his family has been growing rice in South Carolina since the 18th century. This experienced farmer uses the same rice-growing techniques that were originally brought over from West Africa by enslaved people in the South. Chalmers has been inspired by Dr. Richard Schulze, Sr., who is responsible for the rebirth of Carolina Gold Rice, and worked closely with Dr. Richard Schulze, Jr., who gave Chalmers the opportunity to cultivate Carolina Gold Rice and Charleston Gold Rice at Turnbridge in Hardeeville, S.C.

Widely known as “the coolest rice grower in America,” Chalmers grows Carolina Gold Rice on the original fields where this heritage crop was harvested in the 18th and 19th century. For almost 20 years, Chalmers has been growing Carolina Gold Rice for heritage grain purveyor Anson Mills. Anson Mills founder Glenn Roberts has called Chalmers a “quiet force” behind the food revival of the Sea Islands, crediting him with the renewed interest in heritage rice and with the comeback of Carolina Gold Rice. The new Rollen’s RAW Grains retail location in Hardeeville, S.C. serves as a natural extension of the company’s overall mission to share high-quality, sustainable food with a wider audience.

“We can’t grow all our own fruits and vegetables, but we are in a position where we can source it from local farmers and local farmers’ markets,” says Rollen’s RAW Grains co-owner Frances Chalmers. “Our new store is located in the middle of a food desert, and the closest grocery store is approximately 10 miles away. We’re incredibly honored to share fresh, nutritional food and inspiring heritage experiences with local residents as well as visitors from across the country and around the world.”

ABOUT ROLLEN’S RAW GRAINS:

Proudly headquartered in Hardeeville, S.C. Rollen’s RAW Grains is a Lowcountry heritage foods destination, offering signature items like Carolina Gold Rice, Sea Island Red Peas and Sea Island Yellow Guinea Flint Grits, in addition to fresh eggs, yogurt, milk and produce at a new retail store located at 3333 S. Okatie Hwy. All Rollen’s RAW Grains products are non-GMO, gluten-free and preservative-free and are harvested using traditional rice-growing techniques inspired by founder Rollen Chalmers’s Gullah heritage. Rollen’s Raw Grains also hosts agritourism experiences for groups, ranging from outdoor farm-to-table heritage meals to tours of local heritage rice fields. Rollen’s RAW Grains is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Learn more: rollensrawgrains.com.  

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