Small Bites August 18, 2021
dedicated to creating opportunities to promote & sell more VT products to more buyers

Local cheese & meat are featured at the Original Pittsfield General Store
Decisions, Decisions

Lantman's Store was closed from August 8th through the 16th due to a community outbreak of covid. They have since reopened to huge support from their loyal shoppers. The closure was in place until negative tests came back from all employees. They used
social media & outdoor signage along with TV coverage to inform shoppers.
 
Across the state, due to rising Delta rates, masks are mandated to enter many grocery stores. Many staff have young children; this is an added precaution even as we hit 85% fully vaccinated. As was noted last week, Morrisville Coop instituted mask wearing & other coops & independent stores have followed.

Stores recognize that shoppers who are anti-mask or anti vaccination are not covering up upon entrance to the store. Thus, some stores are returning to requiring everyone, to protect all. Per Governor Scott, no changes to statewide polices are in place this week.
Old stores need continual upkeep. A new roof at Mach's in the heart of Pawlet, reveals the old 1800's cedar roof. While that is happening outside, inside they continue with great mix of quality local products matched with those from further afield to meet their customers' needs. Vermont products are delivered primarily from area producers DSD & by distributors including Provisions International & Black River Produce.
Are you a Vermont food producer looking for a bit more visibility? Alderman's Chocolates seeks new products for their VT gift baskets.
 
While you are at it, become a member of the VSFA  for excellent resources, workshops, & a collaborative listserv that will build your Vermont specialty food business! 
Krins sign
Store signage is an important aspect of internal merchandising & marketing. Generally, stores with a marketing department have a better grasp on high-impact results.
Promoting staff favorites, reasons for out of stocks, new & local products & community engagement.
 
A few notable Vermont stores with great messaging include the two stores in the Woodstock Farmers Market family, & Healthy Living & large coops like Brattleboro Coop, City Market & Hunger Mountain Coop. Signs matter & small stores can garner ideas from the bigger ones.  
 
Details matter. Use this tool to facilitate communication for signage & new products. It can help simplify the process as you reintroduce seasonal or new products you are bringing on.  

(By the way, Krin's is back baking up a storm)
Vermont Product Highlights

Miller Farm in Vernon supplies area stores with milk shipped through Food Connects. By using the food hub, they help gain wider customer base for their products. Stores & farmstands stock the Miller farm products. At the Retreat Farm in Brattleboro, which stocks milk & eggs from Miller, items are offered through a pay what you can farmstand. It is one of the many engagements & events going on at the community-focused Retreat Farm."
Across the state's nooks & crannies producers are making products.
 
Up north the scent of Kingdom Coffee is wafting through Waterford. Roasting in small batches they satisfy food service with 5 lb size & for stores a full 16 oz pack (many roasters have downsized to 14 ounce bags). Shipping is DSD to stores & farmstands in the NEK & soon they will have an online store. They are open to wider distribution options, contact Erin for details!
 
The coffee is available direct to consumer at the Caledonia Farmers' Market. Freighthouse Market in Lyndonville sells it both by the cup & retail. Badger Brook in Danville & Snug Valley in Hardwick are two farms selling it.
 
Creating special promotions to support community efforts is embedded in the Kingdom Coffee business plan. Located near the popular Burke biking area, a portion of each Trail Builder Blend sold goes to the area trail association. Is your store in a high-traffic biking area? Would selling "coffee with benefits" engage your customers & increase high coffee sales? Also available as a food service pack size for cafes for grab & go. 
Promotional Partnerships

Brownsville Butcher & Pantry hooked up with area businesses to support the local biking community. With key staff from Claremont Cycle Depot, bikers met up for safety tips, bike tune-ups & mountain bike trail info. The partnership benefited the participating businesses & broadened the sense of community to all who stopped by the store. By all measurements, it was win-win. This of course means amazing food from the kitchen at BBP which always supports local producers. Well done!
Addison County Field Days, the largest ag fair in the state had a banner week teaching fair goers, showcasing techniques & celebrating our farmers.
A Working Lands Grant helped Old Road Farm get on the road more efficiently
Loaded Big Picture Stuff

Prices are rising. There are a multitude of variables across all aspect of food production & distribution be it small Vermont producers & distributors or large national or transnational businesses. Localized economies are always affected by the "bigger picture variables". We currently have many.
 
Widespread wildfires & drought are real factors on produce production & availability available through our large regional distributors supplying stores of all sizes. Furthermore, globally Covid 19 is impacting farm areas where migrant laborers are critical to food production & in all types of food processing. Worker safety is an ongoing issue with at food factories.
 
Tyson, abettor of poultry factory farming & processing, based in Arkansas, is juggling a multitude of variables. In 2020 they temporarily closed due to C19 infections resulting in staff deaths associated with production line working conditions. Labor is tight in this field & often relies on specious practices. Due to the more highly transferable Delta, the company is beginning to become "more humane" in its treatment of factory workers with a number of "progressive" policies.
 
They are now beginning to require employees to be vaccinated. The largest meat processing union is resisting a mandate until the FDA approves the vaccine. The combination of Delta & the low vaccination rates in Arkansas, makes it hard to hire new workers. All employees are to get vaccinated by November with hourly employees receiving $200 as an incentive. This change in policy is designed for shareholder gains because not enough workers will slow production lines. 
 
Closer to home fees associated with transportation & logistics keep rising. Fuel rates, lack of CDL drivers & increase wage pressure & too few applicants for across entire farm & food sector. At the Old Road Farm in Granville they have created as efficient a delivery route as possible with their new van pictured above. Their streamlined logistics reduce time & fuel costs, saving money. Delivery to stores & set up for farmers market has improved overall capacity & efficiencies in their business.
 
At distributors & farms, pickers, packers & CDL drivers are needed to keep food flowing. Performance Food Group, doing business locally as Black River Produce & Reinhart, announced sign on bonuses of up to $7500. Clearly reflecting their leverage as a publicly traded company of the Blackstone Group they can offer substantial incentives to onboard new workers. Most area businesses cannot afford that option. 
If that weren't enough news from big picture impacts, the price of coffee is expected to continue to rise. The Brazilian crop has been damaged by unfavorable weather conditions: drought & temperature fluctuations not conducive to producing quality beans. Then there are the global pandemic impacts of packaging & shipping bottlenecks leading to an increase of overall market prices up 43% in 2021, with no end in sight.
 
Expect price increases at the international farm level, through distribution, to our local roasters then more on the grocery shelf. Stores can expect more coffee roasters to scale back the size of their packaging or increase pricing- or both.  (The once common 16 ounces are shifting to more sold in the 12-14 ounce pack sizes).
Melons from the field at Scott Farm in Ferrisburg
Crops in Surplus

VT Veg & Berry Grower Assoc list serve is one of our state's agricultural wonders! Farmers share insights & look for other farms to purchase surpluses. Announced this week: extra eggplants at LePage Farm, heirloom tomatoes at Small Axe Farm, Delicata from The Farm Upstream. Peppers, corn, & melons are likely to be posted soon.
 
Sadly, blueberries are pretty much done between the heat & rain & insects, The harvest moves onward to Maine & Nova Scotia before leaving the north for the southern hemisphere.
Feature the Bounty of
your County
Fresh melons, plums, corn, peppers, beets, carrots & of course all greens & the full rainbow of tomatoes are full on right now! LePage stand is 100% summer!
August in the 802
Someone say melons?
Golden Russet Farm delivers hundreds of pounds DSD to the Middlebury Coop.

August is the start of Vermont's short but sweet plum season. At orchards around the state, plums are sold in pint boxes or 1/4 peck bags. They are the treat of the treat, & hard to not eat!

This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
-William Carlos Williams
Produce Merchandising Pointers

Teaching staff to match display size with anticipated sales is an art & a science. Using past sales data can help determine potential future sales. Beyond that merchandising can enhance product bounty, without compromising product quality.
 
Produce sales benefit from protection (think comfy cushioning) by using foam & paper case-liners. Create a sense of bulk with "dummy" displays. This can be done as case stacks with empty boxes on the bottom, & product in the top layer. It helps make the display abundant & ensures product quality.
 
Always rotate products & clean out detritus, this is especially important at farmstands where customers expect a "fresh from the field" appearance.
Retail training resources are free from Farm to Plate. Here are a few to explore:


Did you know....Vermont Climate Council Agriculture & Ecosystems Subcommittee is part of the Global Warming Solutions Act. And read the Farm to Plate Climate Change Brief
Celebrate all things maple with Vermont Maple 100 this fall!
Where's Sam today?
Sam was spotted at the Sweet Roots Market dropping of local Vermont products to sell at the farmstand. He is one happy driver making the VT farm & food economy thrive. Through his work at Pumpkin Village Food, Sam always promotes products to buyers while also picking up lots of local products from area food producers to bring back for distribution to stores along their routes.