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It is basically mid-June already! Asparagus has given way to strawberries which eventually gives way to other high season produce. Produce teams around the state gear up for fresh local sales that amplify their multiplier effect on the economy. The more money exchanges between local businesses, the more positive the impact on our local economy.

To get Produce teams jazzed up, we are hosting a Farm & Warehouse Tour on June 27th in Johnson. All Produce folks (& others!) are welcome to join this small group tour. We will see freshly harvested produce getting ready for wholesale & retail sales at Foote Brook Farm. Then we head next door for a tour & wider understanding of Deep Root Organic Coop, which sells produce up & down the east coast, including to Vermont coops & independent stores. On June 27th this FREE event allows us to talk shop, learn about distribution, & get psyched up to promote our local farmers.

When we connect with each other we become more informed about the intricacies of supporting local food makers farmers. Store staff can share their challenges & learn about new opportunities to support sales. We know intellectually that it is "hard to be a farmer" as in how to make a million dollars farming...start with two million. It is equally hard to be a retail food store striving to actively purchase local products only to have farming operations close down or shift distribution leaving a store without a replacement line. This is particularly impactful in rural communities such as Richford. The Main Street Market, a non-profit, 'social grocery store' is working to support the community with a wide selection of products, with a mission to increase local products & with an eye to improving community health. Learn more about this one-of-a-kind rural Vermont store at MyNBC.5 story (time stamp 1;15)

Farmers with retail, please note we are (still) working on a one-off online session around POS systems, pricing, product bar codes to streamline self -serve cash-out, & other cash-out systems.

Promotions Matter

Store Tour

Vermont Fresh Network hosts the Woodstock Farmers Market & Chef Matthew McClure of Woodstock Inn & Resort.

The event showcases how chefs approach relationships with local vendors & are inspired by local, seasonal ingredients at a store whose ethos is geared to local suppliers.

In person events engage the senses

& provide a greater awareness of how food moves from farms/makers to

retail. When a chef joins in the sharing is expanded to feature the creative endeavor of plating up fabulous local food. Shoppers get to see the value of sharing & the enthusiasm of local food. Everyone benefits directly (or indirectly) from cross pollination at a store. When hosted by VFN & other organizations the ripple effect is further enhanced through networking. Join the June 12th tour!

What's in Store? A Few Changes

Under new ownership & getting a bit of an equipment upgrade, the Shaftsbury Country Store enters a new era. With its existing emphasis on fabulous ready to serve meals & baked goods, it will soon sell freshly brewed espresso. The store continues its 2023 extensive revamping to serve the community, sourcing ingredients locally when possible. With a change comes the opportunity as a renewed 3rd place for the folks along Route 7 A in Shaftsbury.

The Plainfield Coop is well into

relocating to a more visible location on Route 2. The Plainfield Hardware store will shift to also housing the home of the Coop. This will provide ample space to grow sales, serve the various needs of the community, expand product selection & community-based services.

Changes at coops can be very challenging due to rich histories, loss of the familiar, yet, they can also reinvigorate community engagement as with the melding of these two businesses under one roof. Read more from Seven Days about the changes in Plainfield.

When a business either closes or alters its distribution, a multiplier effect can impact stores deleteriously. Rural communities often feel pain directly when changes are evident in the landscape as when a farm shutters, but they also see it with changes in product availability.

The recent closing of the short-lived Dairy Stop 'pop up' markets in Franklin County impacts stores & suppliers too. In the dairy case at Main Street Market in Richford, the closing of Dairy Stop leaves a gap to fill. They may have closed for any number of reasons (including low product turns, a new yet untested business model, not enough sales volume, theft, etc) but community members appreciated & now miss, the high quality creamline milk. 

Sole Connection Farm in Arlington are producers of cultivated mushrooms for restaurants & provide retail sales at area farmers markets including Arlington, Manchester & Bennington. They sell direct to select stores including the Bennington Community Market. They were also recently featured in Edible Vermont!

Attention Makers:

Make it Easy for Buyers

Promotions matter to gain exposure of your food brand.

But so does helping buyers navigate your website to know how you sell wholesale. Often, we over emphasize and are caught in an "insta world" of pretty food on a plate with influencers pushing a brand.

As a seller, it is important to

understand a buyer’s drive to carry a new line of products. Ultimately, they want to know how your product will sell. Before that they need to know HOW to buy it.

Your website can become a very useful tool to help them understand your acumen around distribution. Build a tab with some clues to your wholesale (with a caveat that things change). Whizzo Bagels in Marshfield makes it easy for store buyers: check this out. Your info may include DSD, the names of your distributors, 3P via direct shipping such as Mable or Faire & other useful info to help direct buyers to your products.

You do not include pricing but consider some product specs & attributes. Some businesses include a private registered wholesale page. Whatever you do, try to make it easy for a store buyer to learn about your wholesale presence from a quick link on your webpage.

Increases in Retail Theft:

Across the country, there is an increase in retail food theft. We have seen a steady increase in food stolen correlating to a time of increased food costs *& corporate profitability

This is happening in Vermont where stores are actively engaged in ways to reduce shoplifting. Every product that is stolen impacts the operations & profitability of a store, including farmstands.

Mitigating practices & prevention include cameras, as can improved staff training & SOP’s. It may even include a redesign. Stores are locking up products to safeguard against theft. This problem is complex in its making & each store will have its own solutions. Noticing the impact of theft requires staff engagement, & analysis of inventory & margins. The result might include streamlining or a reduction of products that are targets of theft.

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 non-complying business:

Made from ingredients not regularly produced in Vermont or not available in sufficient quantities to meet production requirements. They can still be “Vermont” food when it satisfies the “unique food” criteria. Two or more requirements must be satisfied

•The majority of ingredients (meaning more than 50 percent of all product ingredients by volume, excluding water) are raw agricultural products that are “local” to Vermont;

•Substantial transformation of the ingredients in the product occurred in Vermont; and/or

•The headquarters of the company that manufactures the product is in Vermont

Untapped Waffles are made in Canada with non-Vermont ingredients. The company is however headquartered in Richmond. They make no claims to be Vermont, it is simply through association of its headquarters that it is assumed to be made in state with Vermont ingredients. It is often considered "Vermont" with its 'relationship' to the Slopeside Company.

Store POS tracking should not include Untapped as a "local" product. It does not mean you should not carry this unique fun food, only that you begin to understand that we can often pre-suppose a "local product".

Produce Farm & Warehouse Tour: June 27

The Farm to Plate Grocers Project has spots available for the Farm & Warehouse Tour on June 27th. If you are not familiar with Foote Brook Farm, check out this video & catch the Seven Days article on climate impacts with interviews with Tony & Joie about the farm. Also, we entice you to join the tour with this Deep Root Growers Coop video.

This is a chance to get out in the field to see firsthand how vegetables & produce moves from farm through to retail. This is a rare chance to to uptrain staff & to have fun out & about learning from each other. We of course welcome any Small Bites readers to attend & learn.

We will talk about all things

produce, distribution, retail & learn from registrants on their unique

variables selling local produce.

Register NOW

Join us at an organic vegetable farm

Looking for Local?



Farm Connex 

VT Roots

ACORN Food Hub 

Upper Valley Produce 

Monument Farms 

Food Connects

Lesser Distribution 

Pumpkin Village Foods

Killam Sales 

Myers Produce

 Wilcox

NEFNE Spotlight Regional

A to Point B:

Moving Food for Retail

Myers Produce with a warehouse in Hatfield, MA helps support the regional food economy in three distinct ways: distribution, freight, & warehousing. As a distributor, they purchase food from area makers across food categories to resell to stores & restaurants. They provide freight (BOL) shipping services which opens up new markets for producers & their warehouse provides refrigerated & dry storage. All three of these revenue streams support their business enterprise while also making our local food economy significantly more accessible. Myers welcomes food manufacturers & farmers to contact them for details on each option they offer.

Warehousing, inventory management & shipping infrastructure necessitates effective support a regional economy. Myers contributes to a stronger regional food system helping to drive sales through efficient operations across their suite of distribution services.

Farmer as Retailer

It is a big year for Clear Brook Farm with the 30th anniversary of growing bedding plants & certified organic vegetables & serving its community.

The retail farm store has naturally seen a lot of changes; from a humble stand to what has grown into a "must stop" for locals, summer folks, & random travelers seeking a slice of Vermont's farm fresh bounty & regional food.

They have been at the top of their

game in the evolution of crops grown, adjusting packaging for changes in

customer expectations, & adding various levels of technology.  benefitting inventory & cash-out

operations.

Long-term staff can make a farmstand retail operation, & that is certainly true at Clear Brook. Attention to detail, creativity, & the ubiquitous "make it easy for the customer to shop " are ever present. Cheers for a fabulous year & a long future ahead!

Strawberry season is in full force! Here are a few pointers: top off your berry container (provide a bountiful pint or quart) for increased customer satisfaction. Do not wait for old products to sell, keep your highest quality produce out, this is especially important with berries. Be sure staff are on top of quality control paying particular attention to the impacts of heat or humidity.

Added sales come from cross promotion such as biscuits & fresh heavy cream. Of course, there is always the Cabot whipped cream for easy cross promos too. Another option because June is Dairy Month, promote berries along with a soft, delicate chevre, think (& watch) Blue Ledge Farm. Strawberries and local greens make for a nice June salad.

Networks Matter

Vermont Way Foods met with our federal representatives in DC during Organic Week in May. Conversations circled to the value of regional economies as well as organic standards that fully represent soil-based agriculture. By helping our delegation better understand the issues, they in turn can better represent our values.

Deep Root Growers Coop annual meeting is an opportunity for member-farmers to plan crops & planting schedules. By working together, they amplify their business success while also supporting each other in their place in a regional

food system.

The Agency of Education in

partnership with The Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets

recognized six supervisory unions (SU/SDs) that have achieved the highest rates of local purchasing through The Local Foods Incentive Grant program established in 2021. The efforts of schools, farms, community partners are boosting the economy & food access across the state. Read more in VTBiz. 

Special thanks: Kara- Deep Root; Liz in Dorset; Joie- Foote Brook Farm;

Matt- Vermont Way Foods; Tara -Vermont Fresh Network; Darlene-Main Street Market; James Columinate Consulting

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