About Us
History Timeline
Our family-owned and operated company has endured throughout the years with a generational understanding of size. We pride ourselves on cautious and prudent growth in order to promise reliability and customer satisfaction. As companies gain in size, quantity often overtakes quality. Palmetto Canning knows its niche and will continue to innovate as a medium-sized manufacturer of jarred and bottled food items.
Throughout our history, we have learned lessons passed down generationally and hope to continue that legacy into future generations of the company.
1927
John C. Greenlaw founded Palmetto Canning Company in Palmetto, FL on 8th Avenue after receiving a personal loan from J.P Morgan Jr. after years of service as his yacht captain in New York on the Navette and Corsair III.
1935
John passes away and his wife, Minnie and Son, John C. Greenlaw II, stabilize business after the Great Depression.
1941
John is called to fight in World War II on a Navy Minesweeper, his mother, Minnie, runs the company in his absence throughout the war.
1945
John returns from war and resumes operation of Palmetto Canning with new ideas and builds a new location for the company on US 41 (our present day site).
1958
A tornado rips through Palmetto, Florida and severely damages the facility.
1971
Palmetto Canning builds a factory in the Dominican Republic to provide guava after the 1970 Big Freeze, killing all guava trees in Florida.
1982
John C. Greenlaw relieves the company into the hands of his son, Jonathan Greenlaw III.
2001
Palmetto Location is greatly expanded with new offices and warehousing.
2005
Total square footage is doubled.
2018
De Vinco Company is formed as a subsidiary to exclusively manufacture cooking wines
2020
The coronavirus pandemic shakes the global supply chain, but despite increased demand, Palmetto Canning never missed an order.
2021
Considerable capital improvements, new machinery and increase in demand for private label items expands Palmetto Canning’s capacity and capabilities.
2022
Company enjoys $2.5M upgrades to machinery and facility.
2025
Projected leadership transition to 5th generation of the Greenlaw family
Kosher
Under Kosher supervision of Chabad CHAI of South Tampa.
Community
Palmetto Canning is an equal opportunity employer that is dedicated to working with, employing and sourcing local talent, contractors and services to support the growth of our community.
We proudly source from domestic manufacturers and look for opportunities to keep our supply chain American-made.
While the history of the Greenlaw family is woven into the life of the company, we recognize the people who have dedicated portions of their lives to make Palmetto Canning what it is today. Without their dedication, attention to detail and loyalty we couldn’t have come to this point!
Our heritage is rich with local relationships and generational employees who have seen our company grow and have always been a credit to the Palmetto Canning name.