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Small Bites
June 28, 2024
Creating opportunities to amplify Vermont products to buyers in the northeast & beyond through regional relationships while loaded also sharing insights affecting local food sales applicable to regions outside the state.
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July is right around the corner! How can it be! It is easy when you look at store Produce Departments. Our local inde and coop stores really know how to promote the bounty of their county. Season extension investments by our farms over the years pays off with strong sales at farmstands & stores. They are flush with young root crops, all types of greens & asparagus harvested by Deep Root Growers Coop farmers. It is still June & what were once thought of as ‘high summer crops” of cucumbers, sweet peppers, eggplant & all types of tomatoes are also hitting the stands. Of course, strawberries are well underway with raspberries coming on fast & our small yet mighty blueberries close behind. Farmers have also invested in their processing & distribution infrastructure to help drive demand. A USDA grant review process underway to support infrastructure will expand food access.
Building a product mix is a complicated process for stores. So is building sales as a specialty food manufacturer. Point of sales systems at stores collect a lot of data useful for stores, but it goes beyond that. Data plays a huge role in understanding the dynamics of trends & market opportunities. SPINS is a prominent data company in the natural, organic & specialty food retail space. The data is collected from the UPC GS-1 Bar Codes attached to products. SPINS data has become a prominent way for brands to target profitable accounts. As with any data driven company, it is a fee-based structure where one has to "pay to play" to try to leverage profitable accounts & assess competition. Algorithms pull out data on shopper trends & used by buyers & manufacturers to address opportunities & competitive threats.
Speaking of competitive threats. It might be time for a little heavy summer reading. Austin Frerick has written a fabulous book: Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food. It is an overview of the current hidden superstructure of the shadows that cast a pallor over all aspects of the work we are doing. It is through Frerick's research that we can better grapple with multiple factors in creating viable, regional food systems.
"In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America’s food economy...It’s a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities."
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Promote Values & Mission
Whether you are a maker, distributor, or retailer take stock of opportunities to share your values. In your promos, signage, emails, social etc make the effort & create systems to promote the businesses that you are allied with.
Creating a purchasing strategy is a
step in aligning your mission, another step is helping promote your brands be they national, regional, or local. For distributors being organic certified is a way to promote assurance that you are properly handling products.
For stores, shout out that your
suppliers are certified or accredited by Real Organic Project. Perhaps too, your customers seek to purchase meat that is not CAFO raised. You can promote your suppliers that are accredited through "Animal Welfare Approved".
Another organization to promote & that supports organic is the Northeast Family Farm Partnership.
"Participating brands and retailers have publicly declared their commitment to increase their purchases of northeast organic family farm milk in the region.
When you pledge to buy the products from our region’s organic family farmers, you are not just helping to keep these farms financially viable."
Stores, farmstands, organic dairies & processors are encouraged to sign the pledge to support the partnership of brands working on sustaining organic family farms. If you have an organic focus, promote your values & join other retailer partners in the northeast.
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If part of your mission is to support family-owned organic farmers, encourage sales of the Real Organic Project farmers you buy DSD or through distributors. Not familiar with ROP? Check out the podcast series (seriously!) it will help you in your differentiation by learning the intricacies & financing of the
organic 'industry'. You will become aware of the corporate super structure
embedded in all aspects of food production, distribution, & retail sales. The info in the podcasts help us all to understand the challenges of family run businesses across consolidated market
channels.
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What's in Store? Seasonal Produce in Hardwick
Buffalo Mountain Coop is rocking the local produce scene, but that is nothing new! The rich history of this coop includes a long (49 years!) relationship to its local economy of family farmers. One of the keys to success is the passion exuded by staff to learn about products, recipes & preparation, & the farms, to fully serve the diverse customer base.
Successfully running a Produce
department is a balance of decisions with ever-changing variables.
Merchandising requires a balance of "art & science" within the range of decisions. Buffalo has the passion & drive to balance all the intersecting decisions.
The displays are easy to shop with
color & texture breaks, a range of clean display props, product is well
rotated, signs are in place, pricing is accurate in the POS system, & of
course staff are engaging. Well Done Team Buffalo!
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New Owners, New Hours
JJ Hapgood is back at it up & running under new ownership. They continue the legacy of an eatery & small grocery market. Located in the heart of Peru, its reopening is a new "happy 3rd place' for locals & adventurers. Congratulations Team JJH
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Summer Promos Work!
Aqua Vitea has teamed up with their distributor @ farrelldistributing
for local giveaways throughout Vermont. The first recipient is Jake's ONE!
Participating retailers will each be giving away a Sweet Summaahh package featuring: Aqua Seltzer Retro Igloo Cooler, 4 mixed cases of Aqua Seltzer to fill that cooler, A gift card to store for picnic essentials, & an extra set of Aqua Seltzer decals.
Way to go, this is a great collaborative summahh promo for stores to jump on.
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802 is #1
This is great news Vermont Creamery founders Allison Hooper & Bob Reese were honored with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Fancy Food Show in NYC this week. Also at the show, Blake Hill won "Golden sofi" to go along with their Good Food Award win in April. These awards & recognition are important for the businesses, but also for stores to help shed light on the quality of products sold on their shelves. The Grocers Project shares in the celebration!
Along with nine Vermont food
companies at Fancy in NY, was Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts celebrating the successes. Our businesses are committed to rising to the top with a focus on quality. We have a history of taking home gold wherever we go. Checkout the WCAX story
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Speaking of Gold!
Vermont dairy farmer Elle St. Pierre advances to semifinals in 1500 meters at @Olympics trials. The #Vt runner has already qualified for Paris in 5000 meters. She has broken records getting to this point in while her young son cheers her on!
Please read Elle's beautiful reflection of her connection to family, farm & Vermont.
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Defining Local Products: Navigating Assumptions
In prior Small Bites, you have seen the clues about what is "local" to Vermont per ACT 129. Here is an example of a complying business:
Theogene Mahoro & Hyacinthe Ayingeneye, the owners of Mama’s Farm in Williston, came to Vermont as refugees from Rwanda. They have been meeting the need for culturally specific foods since they established their farm in 2015. They are currently selling 3,000 free-range meat chickens, dozens of sheep &goats for meat, along with eggs & vegetables. As recipients of a 2023 Working Lands Grant of $32.000 they expanded on-farm slaughterhouse capacity & are increasing direct to consumer sales of all their raw products.
A “raw agricultural product” is any food in its raw or natural state without added ingredients, including pasteurized or homogenized milk, maple sap or syrup, honey, meat, eggs, apple cider, and fruits or vegetables that may be washed, colored, or otherwise treated in their unpeeled natural form prior to marketing. It means that one hundred percent of the raw food product was grown or tapped in Vermont.
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Farm & Warehouse Your: Talking Shop
This is what we are talkin' about! Getting folks together is how we build our local food system. The Grocers Project of VT Farm to Plate hosted its second tour with as much success as the first one!
A day at a farm & in a warehouse provided great info about wholesale & retail for our audience of produce staff members, food hubs, producers & advocates of local & organic food. Our secret sauce is learning from each other & making new connections.
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Tony & Joie of Foote Brook Farm graciously shared so much about their farm & how products get to market. Their operational insights covered many aspects from production to retail.
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After several hours of learning at the farm, we walked past gorgeous produce fields to meet Kara at Deep Root Organic Coop. She gave us the skinny on this unique business model that helps our farmers sell to large stores, such as Whole Foods. This allows the farmers to build a brand known up & down the East coast while not competing locally. Together between the two operations & sharing among all the participants, we learned so much about challenges & opportunities within the space we are working in.Over the years Farm to Plate hosts a variety of in person gatherings. We always get 100% buy in for fantastic networking & problem solving is what makes the Grocers Project so successful. Gratitude to all who participated in our two tours & to our hosts at Provisions, Blake Hill, Deep Root & Foote Brook. Stay tuned for one this fall in the southern part of the state!
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Truck Routes & Store Sales
Regional independent distributors & non-profit food hubs seek to balance their product mix with their customer's needs. This is a complex set of decisions for both entities because there are ever changing dynamics (including the rise & fall of trends, influencers" & pressures from the consolidation of industries for the cult of efficiency). Unlike national distributors, they are aligned with a mission that tends toward transparency around product attributes.
As a smaller independent distributor Pumpkin Village Foods seeks
local producers to help drive sales. It has recently brought on Mighty
Mudita, an up & coming plant based, vegan line of deli slices. Check out the WCAX story on this growing VT brand.
Wood Meadow Market in Enosburg is one of the stores on the Pumpkin route that is now carrying Mighty. Other stores, including Jake's ONE & farmstands round out their summer sales with Mighty’s flavors including Spicy Chipotle Carrot & Smoky Beet.
If you have a deli, you too can fill a gap with the plant-based protein food
service reduced pack size.
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NEFNE Spotlight
Urban Greens, Rhode Island
Urban Greens Coop has in its five years become the heart of local & regional NE food in Rhode Island. Voted best local market in Providence it has with affiliations with the Neighboring Food Coop Association. It is a member of National Coop Grocers Association & like Vermont coops, it takes advantage of the discounts on nationally distributed products. Using SPINS data, the buying teams seek to increase purchase products from the other six NE states as means of meeting its goals:
Urban Greens Food Co-op is a consumer-owned and governed cooperative grocery store. The Co-op is open to all and supports the health and well-being of our customers by offering nutritious, affordable food that is sustainably sourced, culturally inclusive, and supportive of local food. Our mission will help build a sustainable regional food system by fostering dialogue and working relationships with local and regional producers and offering them a consistent retail outlet.
As a reader of Small Bites you know that there are many factors involved if getting food to stores in New England. Transportation & distribution networks are still being developed to support a stronger regional food system. To drive sales of products within the northeast requires efficient operations across a suite of distribution services, each with unique business missions & goals.
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Farmer as Retailer
Good Heart Farmstead is open for a bustling summer season. In addition to a CSA, they have a PYO flower & herb operation, & a farmstand. The new building built to offer a wider selection of fresh & seasonal produce is geared to meeting the needs of its customers & its family.
Our mission is to grow healthy, whole foods and to make them available to people of all income levels, increasing the accessibility of local food to low-income Vermonters.
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A seasonal highlight this time of year are the farm stand signs.
Foote Brook is producing so much right now that the sign would have to be a mile long!
Sweet peppers. eggplant, cukes & zukes are flying off the shelf along with many local products from local producers including ice cream from Wilcox, Strafford (& more) & Goodman's pizza.
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Did you Know?
It is legal for Vermont businesses to place a surcharge on purchases. Erin Sigrist of the VRGA recently answered the question around fees.
Many businesses have started adding a 3.5% fee onto credit card purchases. If they are passing the fees on, the best practice is to have a sign at the register notifying the customer of the additional fee.
It is also legal for Vermont businesses to set a $10 minimum for credit & debit purchases, as well as offer a discount to shoppers who pay with cash. Curious about statute? Check it out here.
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Networks Matter
The Retreat Farm celebrated its grand opening on June 14th with a wide network of supporters. The Windham County farm
& food community is seen in the picture above. The event included loads of food sampling, meeting the makers, & engaging with the financial backers. & retreat staff & board. Congratulations Retreat Market!
Food Connects is a mission driven philanthropically supported
distributor in Brattleboro Vermont. Within its mission they deliver regional food as well as educational & consulting services aimed at transforming the local food system. By obtaining grants & corporate sponsorships to support
infrastructure & operations, they have increased revenue to exceed 3
million dollars over their ten years of operation supporting outlets for over
130 producers. That’s a lot of boxes moved from farms & food manufacturers to stores. They have just recently been accredited with organic certification, as has the ACORN Food Hub. With support from Vermont Organic Farmers & the USDA's Transition to Organic Partnership Program they have demonstrated full compliance upholding product handling procedures. Well done!
A great new Pick Your Own resource for farms & for stores to promote their local growers. UVM Extension has a brand new, easy to navigate PYO website showcasing what is in season, where to pick, with search capacities by crop, farm hours of operation, & location. The site is maintained by the farmers.
Hosted by the Vermont Vegetable & Berry Growers Association, vermontpickyourown.org it is a project with many collaborators.
It was designed by farmers, University of Vermont Extension personnel, & Tamarack Media Cooperative, with funding from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. It can be used by stores to promote with families to engage with area farms.
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Special thanks: Joe Dickson, Kathy Killam, Vern Grubinger, Foote Brook & Deep Root Coop,
Pumpkin Village Foods
Photo Credit: Urban Greens Truth Box Architects
Small Bites comes to you via grants & is created for farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, & grocers to increase VT food sales. We support the New England State Food System Planners Partnership effort to strengthen the regional food economy
Contact: Annie Harlow
smallbites802@gmail.com
All info is subject to change.
Created with support from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust
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