Sunburst Trout Farms has come a long way since Dick Jennings, founder, started the first commercial fish farm in the South in 1948. The business, based in Canton, N.C., was known as Jennings Trout Farm at that time.
“My father said, ‘Don’t stay in these mountains, you’ll starve,’” said Jennings.
Jennings stayed in western North Carolina and the Sunburst Trout Farms family, which consists of at least a dozen employees today, is eating well these days. Jennings’ daughter and son-in-law, Sally and Steve Eason, took over the family business in the 1980s and are the current co-owners of Sunburst Trout Farms, which raises and finishes rainbow trout in the pristine Pisgah National Forest.
With the new equipment, Sunburst will be able to expand their offering of smoked trout products, made from fresh Rainbow Trout filets, including a unique smoked trout dip.
Today, the fish are processed into a variety of value-added products, including plain, marinated and encrusted fillets; smoked trout; smoked trout dip; trout caviar; trout sausage and jerky.
With the help of the N.C. Value-Added Cost Share Program (NCVACS), Sunburst Trout is expanding its impressive offering of trout products by adding another smoker. The company’s unique production process involves smoking the trout using southern hickory trimmings over a four-hour period. NCVACS presented Sunburst Trout a cost share award in the amount of $34,951 – 40 percent of the total cost – to purchase the specialized production equipment.
Funded by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, NCVACS awarded an additional $23,500 to Sunburst Trout to offset the costs of a feasibility study consultant and grant writer. As a result, the business was able to apply for and secure a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG). The VAPG award of $283,884 will help Sunburst Trout increase marketing for its value-added products and grow sales in new markets.
Steve Eason (second from left) and Sally Eason (middle), owners of Sunburst Trout Farms in Canton, N.C., along with Charles Hudson (far right), Sunburst Trout chef, received a USDA-VAPG grant from (far left) N.C. director for rural development Randy Gore and (second from right) under secretary for rural development Dallas Tonsager with assistance from NCVACS.
“With the help of the USDA and the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, Sunburst Trout is at a monumental point in its history. For years, we have struggled to stay afloat amidst many hurdles. We have such an amazing, supportive network of local customers who have stuck by us through these trials and tribulations. Finally, we can offer thanks to them in a very concrete way, including increased production, new positions for hire and a better capability of providing a consistent supply of all of our products,” said Sally. “We can now look forward, without hesitation, to being a greater force in the growth of our western North Carolina economy.”
Sunburst Trout’s products are available at restaurants from the Carolina coast to the Las Vegas Strip, as well as hotels, country clubs, retailers, specialty stores and farmers markets throughout North Carolina and the Southeast. In 2011, the company opened its first retail market – Sunburst Market on Montgomery – in Waynesville.
Sally and Sunburst have even achieved a level of celebrity. The fish farm’s trout products have appeared on the pages of major food magazines, like Gourmet and Bon Appétit, and the Easons have been the subject of several TV shows, like this 2011 episode of Flavor, NC! More than one famous chef has paid a visit to Sunburst’s farm, including French chef Jacques Pepin and Food Network’s Bobby Flay.
NCVACS is coordinated by N.C. MarketReady, the Cooperative Extension outreach of the N.C. State University Plants for Human Health Institute, located at the N.C. Research Campus. 
Funded by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, the cost share program was launched in 2009 to encourage more North Carolina producers to apply for federal funding and to generate more competitive applications.
Sunburst Trout Farms is located at 128 Raceway Place in Canton, N.C. For more information:
www.sunbursttrout.com
800-673-3051
Writer: Justin Moore
