New England Producer, Distributor, Buyer Forum

It is on the calendar

and you are invited!

November 12 from 9:30-2:00

Join the conversation around the New England regional farm and food economy. We touch on food production, distribution factors, and decision making at the retail level.

Annie Harlow of the Vermont Grocers Project of Farm to Plate & Small Bites E-news hosts the conversation. Conveniently located at the Retreat Farm & Market in the tri-state corner of Brattleboro, Vermont the Forum hosts a power house of knowledge to demystify how food moves through the region.

Topics include challenges to scaling food businesses, distributor deduction impacts, retail and wholesale organic compliance and differentiation, the roles of distributors and store buyers' 'local & regional' product mix decisions nestled among global factors. This a first conversation that cracks into the nature of successfully selling our regional brands aligning with the New England Feeding New England goal of 30% regional food production and consumption by 2030.

We get down to business, learning about businesses across the food industry. 

All area food businesses and advocates that hold a place in the New England food shed are encouraged to share and learn.

Many decisions are made by store buyers as they balance their product mix. As a food brand, you’re one of literally thousands of products for buyers and customers to choose from in any given grocery store. For emerging brands, the learning curve is rough at best. Disaster at its worst.

There will be panelists, open Q & A, and “Stump the Chumps” covering pertinent issues accessing the retail sector. Panelists include Gregory Esslinger a distributor deductions specialist with Floret, Joe Dickson of Lot 49 Advisers covering organics, Shad Christopoulos of Rainforest Distribution, Thomas Lamppa of Retreat Farm Market and Leda Scheintaub of Dosa Kitchen.

This is an opportunity for regional food allies to foster a stronger understanding of growing regional sales.

• Growing a food business there is so much to learn
• Is direct to store delivery or distribution better?
• Is getting a distributor interested enough to grow sales?
• Who does the "selling", you or distributors?
• How can I better engage with store buyers?
• Can store buyers make the commitment through creative and strategic merchandising to continue buying your product?
• Do we need to hire a merchandising agent to work with multi-location supermarket chains?
• Learning the nuances of trade allowances and capitalization to navigate sales growth 

The day will be a conversational forum (and not a formal conference) informing us all on how food moves through to retail outlets of various sizes.

Register here: November 12 free event

Read the Small Bites newsletter archive & sign up here

Annie Harlow

smallbites802@gmail . com

The New England Producer, Distributor, Buyer Forum is

Funded through the Canaday Family Charitable Trust