Newaygo County and Fremont
Newaygo County reaches north from the Fruit Ridge to Fremont, where a baby food plant and the surrounding farms are the main shippers.
- Size
- 48x40
- Build
- Stringer
- Grade
- A, B
- Trades
- Baby food, farming
- Town
- Fremont, 49412 and 49413
The north edge of the Fruit Ridge
The Fruit Ridge is a glacial ridge across Kent, Newaygo, Muskegon and Ottawa counties, centred on Sparta, and in 2006 it grew 65 percent of Michigan's apples, a dated figure. Newaygo's share of that ground is orchard country. A grower here has the same harvest calendar as a Sparta packer: a strong autumn peak and a long quiet. See Sparta and the harvest guide.
A farm packing shed might ask for 200 dry 48x40 Grade B pallets in September, indoors, with a Friday cut-off. That sentence has the size, the grade, the count, the timing and the condition.
Fremont
Fremont calls itself the Baby Food Capital of the World: Gerber Products, which began as the Fremont Canning Company, is based there. For a food-processing plant like that, demand is steady through the year and set by production schedules rather than by weather. ZIP codes for the city are 49412 and 49413.
A food load, before everything
The most important fact about a baby-food pallet is cleanliness, so the pallet question becomes a moisture and mould question first and a size question second. Wood below 20 percent moisture does not support mould, and a plant that makes baby food will not accept a pallet that smells of damp. A repaired deck suits a food load only if it is smooth and clean. Start with food-dock pallets and the mould guide.
- Dry, indoor storage until the moment of use
- No stains, no oil, no chemical smell
- Flat decks without raised nails
- Grade A first, Grade B if the deck is sound
Any pallet that has sat outdoors uncovered through a wet week should be set aside and dried, or replaced. Food packers often set their own grade rules, so a request should say whether the pallets will touch food packaging.
Distance and docks
Fremont lies far enough north and west of Grand Rapids that a one-time delivery there is a long haul. A standing weekly or biweekly order is cheaper to serve than a one-off; if your dock can take pallets in larger lots less often, say so. See truckloads.
The county is largely rural. A farm, a packing shed or a small plant should say how large the dock is and whether a full-size trailer can reach it, since access shapes what can be delivered.
Source: Wikipedia, "Fremont, Michigan" (read 11 November 2026).
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