Small Bites February 9, 2022
creating opportunities to promote
& sell more VT products
to more buyers
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It's the time of year when farmers & food manufacturers attend seminars, workshops & conferences. This year they continue to be online but soon, we all will be looking for in person gatherings. Coming up is the NOFA Winter Conference- it's not just for organic growers there is a wide range of topics of interest. Trade shows are being organized for early spring including one to expand to more northeast market channels through the Sustainable Business Network. The past two weeks, the Real Organic Project hosted a fabulous 3-part series which was a thorough education of the current barriers to supporting family farms & the consumer understanding of organic, which includes the need to train store staff on the intricacies of what organic means.
Below we have listed some resources for stores, farmers & manufacturers along with some great VT companies. Regarding trade show in 2022, if you are seeking to broaden your exposure but feel financially constrained, apply for a VAAFM trade show support grant. Find details below on upcoming events & business support assets.
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Mid-Winter Food Season
With longer days, greenhouses are increasing their production of "winter" greens while beginning to seed out for spring planting.
Onions & even tomatoes have been seeded-in are well on their way in many greenhouses. Wild Carrot Farm in Brattleboro & Footprint Farm, a ROP farm in Starksboro, have been filling the needs of shoppers with fresh local spinach & other greens.
Wild Carrot has a self-serve retail store that includes products from area producers along with their farm-fresh selections. As their production increases, they will wholesale produce to area stores. Across the state Produce Departments will be bringing on more fresh tender winter greens from local farmers. Produce managers are arranging meetings with farmers to fine tune & manage their seasonal purchasing strategies. This is one our wonderful harbingers of spring.
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It’s a perfect for switching up your store’s line of winter beverages or planning your summer farmstand product mix.
Round out your beverage cooler with these fresh herbal sparkling teas. Join the other stores across the state. Contact them for all the details on pricing & shipping.
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Sustainable Packing & Shipping
Food manufacturers that ship DSD through their e-commerce sites should know about our very own Sylvacurl. This Northeast Kingdom company has been shifting the packaging paradigm since the 1990's.
Born of changes in the forest products sector, the owners Jim & Mary Ellen Lovinski created an alternative to styrofoam peanuts & plastic fillers used in shipping packages. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to packaging peanuts. It is also an ecologically sound alternative to plastic "grass" used in gift baskets and the curls are easily composted. This is a VT forest products business worth supporting.
Lately, they have been "discovered" as more of our specialty food & crafters are seeking to align their value-based businesses with their customers increased awareness of waste issues. A recent story by WCAX provides more visibility to this great Vermont company.
When used properly Sylvacurl can protect just about anything. The natural interlocking ability of wood curls effectively suspends product in a nest. This suspension inhibits product migration, horizontally or vertically, regardless of weight. The wood curls also add a beautiful touch to gift box packaging shipped by many Vermont companies.
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Community Matters
This February there is a great community driven partnership between Black Dirt Farm, their retail store customers & the member organizations of the Vermont Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence. (AWARE (@awareyouth802, @circle_vt, the Clarina Howard Nichols Center, @umbrella_802, @womensafe_vt, @womensfreedomcenter_vt)
Their stellar retailer partners have graciously agreed to pay $0.50 (or more!) per carton of eggs throughout the month. Of the funds raised, $0.25 helps cover the costs associated with the pink cartons & printed materials, while the other half is donated directly to one of the great organizations listed above.
Black Dirt Farm is grateful to work with community-minded businesses & thank them for their generosity & solidarity.
@buffalomountaincoop @hungermountaincoop @morrisvillecoop @farmerstoyou @petes.greens @thegennyvt @mehurons_supermarket @therootsfarmmarket @middlebury_coop @nattyp802 @springfieldfoodcoop @putneycoop @thewilleysstore @myersproduce @local_donut_llc @trenchersfarmhousevt
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Is it time to replace your farm or fashion forward hat? Icehouse Farm might just have your color in their new line of winter farm swag-wear! Morgan is obviously happy to wear hers!
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Store & Department Managers
When was the last time you analyzed then removed your "bottom-dwelling" slow sellers? Now's a good time to work with your distributor reps to run velocity reports & ID slow sellers to make room for new products. It can also help you manage your shrink by revisiting "past date" products. Does your staff need info on Shrink? Check out other F2P retail resources.
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The Selling Conundrum
The above picture is how many shoppers think of organic dairies- like Larson Farm. Below is a picture of an organic dairy, known as a CAFO. It is important for store employees to know about production practices & help inform shoppers of the differences in the products on your store shelves. National brands like Horizon are misleading shoppers on the values of animal health & environmental stewardship, though legal under loosened USDA organic regulations. They are also dropping contracts with our area organic family dairies.
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Thousands of cows are in living in putrid conditions in the "organic" CAFO above, never seeing the light of day, rain on their backs, or birds resting on their backs or haunches.
Store buyers across all categories are advised to dive into the Real Organic Project resources. To clarify the global food system & impacts of USDA certification the resources include podcasts, farm-highlight videos, the 2022 Symposium & online tools. When purchasing from ROP farms, be sure to promote that with instore signage & on social.
When you & your staff learn corporate scale ag, your shoppers will be better informed to make decisions. What is defined as "organic" can be very much in conflict of shopper perception. Mostly they think they are purchasing from farms that support the land, animal welfare & their personal purchasing choices to support the environment.
"The failure of the USDA to uphold the legislation governing soil health & animal welfare has resulted in the formation of the Real Organic Project."
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REMINDER!
NE Tradeshow is coming up
Sustainable Business Network in Boston is hooking up with Vermont & other NE states to widen their network. One goal is to help food manufacturers reach new market channels.
An upcoming virtual tradeshow on March 29th is one that Vermont businesses can join to meet regional store & distributor buyers. Check it out for all the events & details!
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VT Housing & Conservation Board has shared a list of resources for grants & workshops. Check out the many support services from grants to workshops designed to help our farm & food businesses. Sign up to receive updates in your email inbox. (apologies that are few grant deadlines have passed)
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Farmers With Retail Operations
A reminder that now is a good time to reflect back & look ahead for the upcoming farmstand season. Check out the 2021 NOFA Farmstand Workshop on youtube with Rose Wilson & Andrew Knafel. Great info on product mix, merchandising, & pricing.
Also, peruse the NOFA Farmstand Audit Tools to wrap your head around making a seasonal punch-list for streamlining & tweaking your 2022 farm retail operations.
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Resources, Support, & Services
February 10: Uprooting Racism training is offered through Soul Fire Farm. It is a virtual theory & action training for farming & food justice leaders to uproot systemic racism in our organizations & our society. Delve deep into the history & structural racial injustice to develop an understanding of the movement & strategies of front-lines communities struggling for food sovereignty.
Seeking farmers & food producers to participate in a workforce development program Step Out Lending a helping hand for post-incarcerated women to gain life skills & create work experience in farm & food businesses.
Business Support: Are you seeking farm business planning support or Real Organic Project info? Jeff Carpenter Consulting Services covers all aspects of sustainable business planning, medicinal herb propagation, soil health & fertility, field production, harvesting, post-harvest processing & marketing. His expertise is centered on small to mid-scale farming operations focused on producing high-quality, high-value botanicals rather than large-scale, highly-automated operations focused on high-volume, lower-price point markets.
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Thank you for keeping covid safety front & center in your business decisions.
Small Bites comes to you via USDA & High Meadows grants. Content is created for farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, grocers to increase VT food sales
Contact: Annie H Harlow
smallbites802@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, photo credits are from company social media, websites or Annie Harlow
All info is subject to change; thank you to all the folks who contributed to this issue!
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