WAHPETON, N.D. (AP) – They’re a small-market team that continues to compete despite an off year down on the farm. The Minnesota Twins? No, it’s their spitting image.

The company that makes the official sunflower seed of the Twins is having an all-star year.

“We’re going against the big boys,” said Jason Schuler, the regional sales manager for Giants Sunflower Seeds, manufactured in Wahpeton by Giants Snacks LLC. “We’re making a go at it.”

The label, which claims to have the biggest sunflower seed on the market, is bracing for unprecedented growth. The 10-year-old company sold about 2 million bags of the crackling sunflower snacks last year, and about half a million bags left the shelves last month alone.

Giants is currently running double shifts, including weekends.

“It’s just tough right now because we can’t keep our inventory stacked,” Schuler said. “As long as we keep everybody happy, it’s a great problem.”

While other seed companies were hampered by cold, wet weather in sunflower-growing parts of northern North Dakota and Minnesota, Giants is enjoying a home field advantage. It uses a variety of confection seed grown farther south, in southern North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas.

“Having the right variety and the right environment did give them an edge,” said Gary Fick, a Breckenridge, Minn., seed breeder who developed the Giants variety.

Giants signed a three-year contract with the Twins, who gave the company exclusive concession rights in exchange for providing the home and visiting teams with free seeds.

The deal didn’t come without a tryout. The company first furnished seeds for the Twins in spring training.

“The players sort of went nuts over them,” said Glen Black, the Giants national sales manager.

Most of the major league teams get their salty delights from David Seeds, a brand of Nebraska-based ConAgra Foods Inc., but the Twins decided to buck that trend with a local venture, Twins president Dave St. Peter said.

“It’s a partnership we’re proud of, to be able to work with an Upper Midwest company and help Giants build their brand,” said St. Peter, a Bismarck native and University of North Dakota graduate. “The players like the product, too.”

A spokeswoman for David Seeds did not respond to requests for interviews.

Sunflower seeds are becoming more popular with players, particularly after the minor leagues eliminated the use of chewing tobacco, St. Peter said.

“I think seeds have been the greatest beneficiary of that,” he said. “It’s good on other fronts as well, particularly the images that are broadcast on airwaves to families and young kids.”

Giants also has deals with some minor league baseball teams, including the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Northern League. Todd George, a pitcher for the RedHawks, was only half-joking when he called sunflower seeds an important part of a player’s well-being.

“I have so much down time, I have to have something to do,” he said. “We like these bigger seeds because they’re easier to crack open and they’re more rounded.”

The Giants seed is 25 percent bigger than most brands, Schuler said.

The relationship between Giants Seeds and Major League Baseball hasn’t come without a few bad hops. The San Francisco Giants complained about the use of the word “Giants” and the block lettering on the packages.

The parties “reached an amicable solution,” allowing the seed company to keep the name, a spokeswoman for Major League Baseball said.

In the meantime, Giants Seeds continues to expand into warmer regions. The company whose workers started in 1995 by delivering the seeds themselves now has 52 distributors in 13 states.

“We’re growing more to the South, where you can eat sunflower seeds year round,” Schuler said. “It takes time, but it’s kind of like drinking soda. If you drink Coke, you’re not going to drink something else.”

Fick, known as an expert in plant breeding, said he’ll continue to work on improving the long, dark seeds for Giants. “We’re always looking to make them bigger and better.”