DUDA Marks 100 Years in Agriculture With New Oviedo Offices

At 3000 Dovera Drive in Oviedo, DUDA paired a century-old farm legacy with a new corporate headquarters, putting a spotlight on one of Seminole County’s oldest family businesses at a time when land values and development pressure keep testing agriculture’s future.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson presented DUDA with the Century Pioneer Family Farms certification during the March 25 celebration, and State Rep. Rachel Plakon also delivered a state proclamation. The designation matters because the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services created the Century Pioneer Family Farm Program in 1985 to honor families that have maintained at least 100 years of continuous family farm ownership. That places DUDA in a very small category of Florida businesses that have kept control of farmland across generations.

DUDA traces its roots to Andrew Duda’s arrival in the United States in 1909 and his purchase of 40 acres of Florida farmland in 1926. From that start, the company grew into a fifth-generation, family-owned agricultural and real estate enterprise that now spans about 40,000 acres across five states, employs more than 1,000 people and is widely described as a leader in celery production. The company’s history is tied not only to family continuity but also to the kind of long-horizon land stewardship that is becoming harder to sustain in fast-growing counties like Seminole.

The new headquarters reflects that same long view. The two-story, 29,208-square-foot building sits on 3.74 acres and was designed to support future growth with upgraded workspaces, collaboration areas, a larger boardroom, new furniture and appliances, enhanced security and virtual front-desk technology. In other words, DUDA is not simply preserving a legacy office; it is investing in a more modern operating base while keeping its headquarters in Oviedo, close to the agricultural footprint that built the company.

DUDA president Mark Bassetti said the centennial reflected “dedicated employees, strong industry partnerships and commitment to innovation,” along with the family’s “unwavering dedication to quality, sustainability and feeding families for generations.” For Seminole County, the milestone carried a larger meaning: it showed that even as development keeps pressing outward, some of the county’s most durable economic players are still rooted in land, farming and private capital built over generations.