Small Bites
February 23, 2022
creating opportunities to promote
& sell more VT products
to more buyers
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We are at a critical time & place locally & globally. We all love the local concept of building an economy based on small businesses with a strong multiplier effect. In our work with the Grocers Project we weave together the full supply-demand-multi-sales-channel-shopper-engagement-chain. However, within the roles creating a local economy there is the bigger global economic picture where impacts are out of our control. It matters not that you are farmer, food manufacturer, packaging supplier, distributor, retailer we are caught in a dichotomy of scale. of finance. of race & gender disparities. of the access. of taxation of consolidation.
Costs of production are up at insane rates. The impact is across the board for farmers & local food manufacturers ending up as increases as fewer products making up the basket share for food shoppers. Store buyers are working hard to find "value" products yet that plays into the hand of the corporate distribution network. Food manufacturers have told us this winter that scaling to use large national distributors & Amazon has cost them in ways that the word "evil" has come up several times. For several manufacturers seeking to grow their businesses nationally scaling up leads to selling through narrower & higher-risk options.
A consolidation of market channels leads to a "power" imbalance. When your accounts receivable on invoices for pallets comes back as an accounts payable to the distributor we have system that benefits shareholders. Lack of competition & concentrated corporate power rule the roost.
Building your business is an American Dream aspiration. Yet as businesses grow & evolve what often ends up happening when a business is sold to a large equity buyer, is products become a line item & return on investment is evaluated for shareholder gain. Acquisition by large private equity groups lack allegiance to our local economy & the engagement in local employment. Think the 2021 closure of the 80 year old Koffee Kup & VT Bread Company bakeries. The acquisition had a huge deleterious multiplier effect. Brands bought by private equity, for market & brand consolidation change product availability by limiting sales to Amazon owned businesses or tied into a narrow distribution profile.
Corporate tax rates at 3.4% & the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay was 21-to-1 in 1965 and 61-to-1 in 1989. Today it's 351-to-1. Is it really inflation? Or is it corporate greed & run away salaries out of alignment with worker wages?? We are in a conflagration made of the friction from private equity, business acquisition corporations, & the consolidation of the distribution chain. Price increases across the food supply chain are embedded in a broken system that favors a select few with adverse impacts on our economy.
There are however other systemic pressures too: lack of housing, childcare, & limitations on use of conserved land have come to the forefront. Just this week the cows of Orb Weaver Creamery were sold as the creamery made the decision to wind down this iconic Vermont brand. As multi-faceted pressures close in from all sides the concept of resilience is replaced by the understanding & influences of" global business structures" on local food.
Businesses that make up our local economy continue to be relationship dependent. We highlight businesses that are tackling some of the pressures of globalization & corporate consolidation while working close to home in producing & distributing food to stores doing good to promote these products.
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Orb Weaver Creamery
Closes Up
Hearts are heavy in Addison County & across the region. News came this week that Kate & Zack are closing up the Orb Weaver Creamery due constraints on housing, childcare & land use pressures.
"We started leasing the farm and creamery from Marjorie and Marian in the summer of 2018 with the plan to purchase it in 2021. We knew that the farm did not come with a house, so we have been looking in the area for a place to live. The farm is conserved which makes it more affordable for the next generation of farmers but it does limit what we are able to do with the land, such as build a house. The recent housing crunch has made matters worse.
What does this mean? Well it DOESN'T mean Orb Weaver will go away! Marjorie and Marian continue to own and operate @orbweaverfarm where they grow organic wholesale vegetables for the community. We can't thank Marjorie and Marian enough for this incredible opportunity that they provided us. It was an honor to even try to step into their large shoes to make their iconic cheese and farm the land.
Our lease ends in a couple of months and we still have cheese to sell, so we also aren't going away quite yet. We wanted to let you know since this is the time of year we would be calving, making milk, and offering the fresh cheeses that we have been out of since last summer. We said goodbye to the last of the cows yesterday. It was so hard to see them go, but they are all scattered throughout Vermont and New York on either small, regenerative farms or homesteads that make the best raw milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt.
Finally, we want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the support over the last few years. Whether it was at a farmers market, store demo, online sale, or even a "like" on social media, the support we felt throughout this journey has been incredible.
-From Kate & Zack's FB post 2-22-22
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It's a crazy roller coaster February. Winter vacation for skiers & winter adventuring has taken a hit. However, that doesn't mean stores haven't been busy. Vacationers are swamping mountain-town stores Mehuron's, West River Provisions, Nature's Market & Londonderry Village Market. Local products are always sought after in February vacation week & these stores all carry VT products across all categories. Meat, cheese, beverage & chocolate categories are always strong sellers in winter.
Since 2020 take & bake & home meal options have increased in popularity across the state from the well-established Globetrotting dinners at The Genny in Albany to the signature chef series of pop ups at JJ Hapgood.
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Sherpa Foods in Burlington is a growing brand working to gain a wider distribution range for their authentic Nepalese dumplings & sauces.
By working with two food hubs Food Connects in Brattleboro & Farm Fresh Rhode Island they are able to get their products to a new customer base in Rhode Island & southern Massachusetts. This type of distribution builds upon the multiplier effect of positive economics for the NE region.
The hubs provide source-identified products in an efficient distribution model that builds on relationship marketing & operational systems to help keep prices affordable for distribution & to retail stores.
Sherpa Foods has other distribution options available contact them for all the details. Some of their products can be found on the 3rd party platform Faire.
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Calling VT Food Manufacturers & Distributors
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Build Better Beverage Sales
It’s not just for hot summer days! Year round, Cold Brewtus is a hot seller across the state & all the way down into Brooklyn.
If you are tired of your cooler filled with national brands & you want to get away from vendors stocking your cooler with overlapping products it's time to build your VT beverage category. This business is working on rolling out some new beverages too! Get in with them now & your VT build beverage sales by ordering through Farrell.
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Spring Is On The Way!
How do we know? Barn First Creamery has announced their seasonal, single source pasteurized goat milk will begin the 2022 bottling on March 9th.
As a small-scale goat dairy, the first few weeks of freshening goes to the new born goat kids. This helps get them started on the road to a healthy life. Soon thereafter, the milk is ready for reaching stores.
Milk is shipped from the farm to stores through Farm Connex, another one of the food hub partners making products available to Vermonters (& beyond!). Barn First is also producer of high quality, small batch goat cheese well known at many of our quality cheese cases at Coops & independents stores. Don't have their award-winning products? Its a fine time to add them to your mix available through several distribution options including Provisions International based out of White River Junction, VT.
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Community Matters
Small Bites has given shout outs to localized community action associated with stores, manufacturers, distributors & farmers. These celebrations are positive stories of communities committed to good work & up the culture of Vermont.
Rabble Rouser (formerly known as Nutty Steph's) has a rich history of community engagement & activism through food. It is integral to its brand & mission.
To strengthen, nourish, and support our
communities through the unifying power
of exceptional chocolate, art, craft, & culture.
They created a community support program to address national issues while supporting causes out of state.
Because they ship their products to customers across the county, the focus on activism the values of the employees means that beneficiaries extend beyond Vermont. They have many options to ship their products in your store or farmstand.
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Winter Tune-ups &
Staff Support
Winter is often a time for stores to recalibrate on many levels. This winter has seen ongoing staffing challenges but also renewed attention to skills development for new staff.
Investing in staff can have a high rate of return for investment of time & attention. The team at Brownesville Butcher & Pantry are excited to develop the skills of a new baker. Having seen first-hand a go-to attitude & genuine willingness to learn skills, it is win-win for the store, for the employee & ultimately for the community.
Over the years Farm to Plate created retail readiness resources to help build local food relations, assist in refining merchandising & develop leaderships skills for store managers. After a long spell of tech glitches, the retail video series is back up & accessible.
As part of training key staff can conduct an in store audit. This F2P retail tool helps develop critical skills leading to more engaged staff & improved operations. As an example, a sign such as the one below would pop as less than adequate.
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Calling All Store Buyers
Marketing & Promo Teams
Become an ally of your local food producers by marketing your relationships including your organic producers. Real Organic family-scale operations should be differentiated from national brands.
Stores can help their staff become more informed on organic production practices & national brand penetration. The staff can in turn help shoppers understand that “organic” may actually be contrary to their expectations. Learn about organic discrepancies & stores can use the Real Organic Project resources that include podcasts, farmer videos. When purchasing from ROP farms, be sure to promote that with instore signage & on social.
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Farmers Take Note!
Spend a little time this winter updating your social & websites to make it clear to your network your values. Add animal welfare certifications, ROP or NOFA logos & highlight your values such as membership in VT Fresh Network. This helps stores buyers & marketing teams learn more about your farm values. When shoppers learn about smaller scale production, the stronger the businesses become.
Stores can also share farm names & your values in their promotions. This too helps to build the multiplier effect & inform customers of their place to effect positive impacts.
Promote logos.
It's up to you in '22.
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Harlow Farm in Westminster is cranking out the winter greens. As the days lengthen, the greens respond with vibrant growth.
The farm store is filled with Vermont products including their produce which is beginning to transition from winter crops to spring greens. Shoppers always love this transition when the diet shifts from winter to Spring. Be like Harlow's & sell local early spring crops & VT products available through Green Mountain Farm Direct & other food hubs.
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Farmers With Retail Operations
You might be busy with your greenhouse seeding in or harvesting "spring" greens, or even starting your sugaring operation but remember to take some time to think about your retail operation too. Review the NOFA Farmstand Audit Tools helps put a new lens to your retailing. Or get a tune from the 2021 NOFA Farmstand Workshop.
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Good Heart Farm in Worcester, VT is harvesting Spring greens, transplanting spinach, onions, & more in the greenhouse for their March 21 CSA pick up. They are participating in the NOFA farm share program for income-eligible to receive a subsidized share of a season’s worth of veggies for half-off. Eligibility guidelines are on NOFA-VT’s website.
"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.
We strive to strengthen our community through food, and to promote creativity, communication, peace and learning through a direct connection to the land and the food we eat."
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Good News!
Things are looking up at retail food stores. The worst of the pandemic may just be in our rear view mirror. Or we may be super optimistic, but salad bars are returning, demos are being lined up with specialty food producers, & soon perhaps will be in person producer buyer forums & matchmaking events.
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Resources, Support, & Services
Step Out Lending a helping hand for post-incarcerated women to gain life skills & create work experience in farm & food businesses. Seeking farmers & food producers to participate in this workforce development program
VT Housing & Conservation Board has shared a list of resources for grants & workshops. Check out the many grants & 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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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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