A.V. THOMAS PRODUCE Sweet Potatoes Facilities About Us Recipes Contact Us Over 80% of California’s sweet potato and yam production happens in Merced County. What’s the difference between a sweet  potato and a yam? Depending on who you ask… Although orange-fleshed sweet potatoes have traditionally been referred to as yams in parts of the United States and Canada, they are not part of the same family as True Yams and therefore they are not really yams. True yams are cultivated in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania and not traditionally in the United Stated or Canada. In the United States, it’s easier. “Sweet potato” is the broad category name, and yams are a type of sweet potato. (So all yams can also be called sweet potatoes, but not all sweet potatoes can be called yams.) Recipes & Cooking Tips Breads & Baking Main Dishes Salads & More Side Dishes Farming/Organic The company was founded by Antonio Vieira Tomas, who immigrated to the United States from the Azores Island of Pico in Portugal in 1920 and settled in Livingston, California. 3900 Sultana Drive, Atwater, CA 95301-9605 avthomasproduce.com (209) 394-7514