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2025 International
Year of Coops
There is a lot that we are all taking in right now, so it might be you didn't catch that this is the International Year of Cooperatives. This extends beyond food coops, but that is our lane.
According to the Neighboring Food Coop Association, there are more than 60 Food Co-ops across New England & New York State, locally owned by more than 290,000 members. Together, these community-based businesses generate an estimated revenue of $625 million and employ about 3,300 people (2024).
In Vermont, there are about 15 food coops, locally owned by more than 55,000 members, generating an estimated $164 million in revenue, & employing more than 1,000 people. By the end of 2026 the new Caledonia Food Coop in St J will be adding to these data points!
These stores positively impact through their services, purchases of local food, through business to business support & as hubs of engagement. A huge shout out to all the mission driven Coops actively engaged across their communities.
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“The Co-op is a special place where everyone's family. It's where good food and company matter, where we gather to talk about things both big and small.”
-Springfield Coop customer from Grafton
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Two independent VT grocers Healthy Living Market & Woodstock Farmers Market have signed on as members of INFRA.
The purchasing cooperative is comprised of independent organic & natural food & wellness retailers serving hundreds of communities in all 50 states, Washington D.C., & Puerto Rico. Through collective buying power, operational support, & innovative marketing programs, they help member businesses thrive in step with their values & communities.
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Hydration: It's Cool
VT Cranberry Company, our state's only commercial grower, is shipping its maple cranberry seltzer through Pumpkin Village Foods. This sweet-tart of bevies is perfect for rehydrating on these hot summer days. Come harvest time, the super tart, unsweetened juice will hit the stores & loyal buyers will merchandise this seasonal item front & center in their display coolers.
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Navigating the rules of CBD production, Sati Soda has connections to Maine & Colorado. Producers of both sugar-free organic energy drinks & shelf stable CBD sodas, they have been building their brand since 2021 with regional distribution through KeHE & Krogers. Each can has a QR code providing assurances of third party test results for each can sold. Sati is currently seeking wider distribution for both product lines in the New England & Northeast states. Interested? Contact then for details.
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How perfect that on a hot summer night in Addison County, the band was dressed in Hug Your Famer shirts & hats. Wild Leek River kicked into gear & everyone was choosing VT bevies to cool down as they danced to some hot honky-tonk. Every other week, they showcase their support for farmers as the house band at Radio Bean.
| Vermont has a new milk company. Our Secretary of Ag, Anson Tebbets had a great to visit with South Kirby Creamery. Joined by Senator Russell Ingalls, they witnessed how this farm family is providing milk to their neighbors in the NEK. The creamery specializes in top-cream whole milk from Holstein, Jersey & Ayrshire cows. This farm has room to grow with a plan to get more in milk in stores, schools, farmstands, & coffee shops in their area. | |
Food Production Space Available in BTV
A move-in ready commercial space is available to rent near North Winooski Ave & Riverside Ave, in Burlington.
The ~600 square foot space was built new in 2021 with a 3 bay sink, floor drain, 3 phase power, A/C, & a 6’ heat removal hood.
Rent is $1100/mo. and are open to two businesses sharing the space, as long as both are on the 11 month lease. Contact Mike at Garuka for pictures & details. (802) 309-4997
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Fancy Food Show NYC
It's a thing to be at "Fancy" & from Vermont! Buyers seek out businesses known for our quality & creativity. This NY City show is particularly important as significant store buyers & distributors from around the country seek out products to meet their customer's needs & to round out their pricing strategies & category mix.
The VT Agency of Ag & the VT Specialty Food Association work in concert year round to help businesses make the most of the show.
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Save the Date September 10th
The Vermont Specialty Food Association annual meeting is a must for food businesses. If you aren't yet a member join now! (stores & distributors can support the organization with a membership too!)
This year's theme is Sales & Revenue Growth. As always, the agenda is packed with inspiring & practical content for specialty food & beverage producers. Save the date for a day of good people doing good work to support the local & regional food economy. Register here.
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Looking to Learn About Wholesaling Your Food?
Well, you'd better mark your calendars to join Alli Ball & her boot camp of readiness Food Biz Wiz. She takes her years as a buyer at Bi-Rite & her experience building brands through a community of like minded businesses learning to work smarter & build a viable food business.
From September 8-12 she shares the goods on how wholesale & retail connect & to build confidence to effectively get brands positioned with store buyers. Registration launches on 9/8 for the bite-sized online series.
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Cool Stats:
Kingdom Creamery
1 family
300 cows
1500 gallons of milk daily
35 cones per gallon
52,500 ice cream servings per day
2 different businesses
Kingdom Creamery hard ice cream mix is sold in pints, quarts, and 3-gallon boxes & is available in 30 flavors. Their soft serve mix is highly customizable, depending on the desired consistency. They also offer gelato mix & have their own sugarbush. Naturally, that means all of their maple flavor is real maple from the farm. Catch the WCAX Made in VT story.
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Kingdom Creamery is by Vermont
definition a "Local" product because they are raw ag products processed & are headquartered in Vermont.
Store POS systems can add the "local" attribute to their products for tracking sales which adds data to the 2025 NEFNE regional economic impact research.
ACT 129 Defining Local
Processed Food
Processed foods are broken into two subgroups. A product is considered a ‘processed food’ whenever it is not a raw agricultural product, but processed foods also include raw agricultural products that have been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, dehydrating, milling, or the addition of other ingredients. Processed foods include dairy, meat, maple products, beverages, fruit, or vegetables that have been subject to processing, baked, or modified into a value-added or unique food product. Processed foods are “local” and/or “Vermont” food if:
• 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;
• The product was either processed in Vermont or the food manufacturer is headquartered in Vermont (or both are true).
| Summer potatoes are beginning to be harvested across the region. Like summer cabbages, their nuanced flavor profiles are often underrated. | |
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
By William Carlos Williams
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Champlain Orchards is shipping their plums DSD to independent & coop stores. Early Pristine apples are on the way, which means Vermont's great summer fruit cross over is in full swing. Around the state blueberries are hanging on, late strawberries, plums, loads & loads of melons, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, & elderberries are ready to fully enjoy!
Among the many plum varieties at Champlain Orchards:
Stanley Plum
Introduced: 1926, New York
The Stanley is the go-to for European plums. It is medium to large fruit with dark blue skin and yellow-green flesh. It can be identified by its distinct neck.
Early Golden Plum
Introduced: 1946, Canada
One of the first plums of the season, the Early Golden ripens in the form of a medium sized golden plum full of sweet flavor within the rich pink flesh.
Green Gage Plum
Introduced: late 1700's, England
This old world plum variety has become a favorite again due to its excellent eating quality and culinary versatility. The yellow-green fruit has a distinctive, rich plum-honey flavor. Freestone.
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Based in the Upper Valley on the edge of Vermont & New Hampshire, Provisions International is known by stores & food manufacturers as a "specialty distributor". Their niche leans to artisan cheese, charcuterie meat, jams & lines of imported pantry products. An educated procurement & sales team is another integral aspect of service.
Their history is rich in building the regional food economy. Since 1988 they have been purveyors of premium products staffed by well-informed and caring professionals eager to promote products selected for customer's success. They seek products that match the highest potential to meet the needs of their primary customer base of stores & restaurants.
In 2023 they were acquired by industry veterans Éric Frechette of Taste of the North & James Gordon of Upper Valley Produce which expanded the Upper Valley Produce family of food-aligned businesses. The team at PI are dedicated to supporting area food manufacturers in their quest for success.
| The Provisions team is always present at VT & NE cheese events | |
VT Salumi For Easy Sales
At Vermont Salumi, the art of salumi-making is fully embraced marrying Italian traditions with the rich agricultural history of Vermont.
Their commitment to quality started in 2011 when Peter Colman Roscini created the company. Attention to detail shines through in every small batch, crafted using the finest meats.
The salami is perfect for nibbling in a ploughman's lunch or on a charcuterie board with cheeses from Provisions International. In the tradition of Italy's Umbria region, it is a simple blend of high-quality meat & spices paired with traditional curing methods. This creates the perfect balance of flavor and texture & pairs with cheese, sparkling cider, or your best friends. Stores can cross promote with a number of products to craft an easy summer meal.
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Real Organic Project
Real Organic farming is growing crops in healthy soils & raising livestock on diverse pastures. It is a simple statement built on the need to address issues of corporate ag & the watering down of of standards impacting the understanding of " organic".
The USDA has failed to enforce important aspects of the organic law. As a result, it has become ever harder for small to mid-sized farms to survive while staying true to organic principles. "In the face of the corporate theft of the USDA seal, the organic community united in creating the Real Organic Project. We are championing an “add-on” label for greater marketplace transparency." To be Real Organic, farmers grow food in the soil, not hydroponically. Livestock is raised on pasture, not in confinement. Real Organic remains exactly what organic was always intended to be.
Howard Prussack of High Meadows Farm in Putney, VT is a Real Organic farmer. This is also Vermont's very first certified organic farm in 1976. Listen to his story on production & distribution, including selling to area coops & the impact of farms & coops o rural economies.
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NOFA's Annual Farmer Olympics was
held at High Meadows on August 12th. This fun-filled event brings together farms from around the state for a silly mid-summer break from work. Always friendly competition, delicious pizza, & camaraderie as farm teams compete in both physical & brainy activities.
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Farmers as Retailers:
Everything, Everywhere,
All at Once!
Dry & Hot. Dang, it might keep the blight away, but it is hard on workers to have such an extensive weather pattern. It's tough on plants & animals too. No end to the drought in sight either.
That said, farm stores are busy with the whole gamut of produce from delicious & always eagerly awaited melons to plums. Early apples, & of course corn, & late varieties of strawberries to sell with the winding down of blueberries.
This is the beginning of the best 50 days of harvesting crops in Vermont. By October 1st we will be jamming with sweet potatoes, fall lettuces, the last of peppers, eggplants & every squash variety will bring fall colors into our realm. Apples will be harvested & weather depending, peak orchard visits might already be behind us.
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However for now, signs of the times says it is a rainbow full of colors & flavors to creatively merchandise your displays for peak sales. Remember to stock for your intended a customer traffic. As legendary Produce Guru Mark Mulcahy has always advised: "stock for anticipated sales". Also, know your varieties, why just look at all the types of plums Champlain Orchards grows. A curious & well trained produce staff can make all the difference for positive shopper engagement.
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Share Your Strengths
Vermont Farm to Plate's 15th Annual Gathering is on November 20th & 21st at Burke Mountain Resort.
The theme, "Keep Calm, and Collaborate on: Working Better Together as a Region in Uncertain Times". You are invited to lead a session that is interactive, hands-on, solutions-focused, action-oriented & collaborative. Share your insights in an interactive 1.5-hour session that fall into one of two categories:
Skill-Building workshops focused on practical tools (e.g., consensus-building, equitable financing, advocacy strategy, restorative practices, etc)
Experiential Deep Dives into real-world issues (e.g., land access, farm viability, food access, urban ag, supply chains, climate resilience, etc)
Get all the low down info here & send in by August 15th
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High Level Fall Out
We have always said local food is part of a global system. We are seeing just how intertwined the system is. Stores match their product pricing by balancing for their customers local & 'global' mix. (If you read the highly promoted book Barron's you know...)
We are all connected to the federal decisions; what happens when tariffs & ICE raids take down the system? Let's look at meat packing in Iowa. Because it is happening now in real time with the ending of Temporary Protection Status. Immigration raids on meatpacking facilities & farms are limiting the processing & the shipments of food nationally.
At a July 15 city council meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mayor Rick Johnson announced that JBS — the largest meat processor in the world — was issuing 200 notices to employees from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua & Venezuela that their legal work visas had been revoked.
A U.S. firm owned by JBS made the single biggest donation to Trump’s inaugural campaign. However the corporation is not immune to ICE raids & other effects of Trump's policies. JBS is now on the US Stock Exchange & is slated to continue its immoral business practices that includes price-fixing, child labor & environmental crimes in the Amazon rain forest. The meat is widely sold across the United States grocery & restaurant sectors.
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Current Economic Indicators
"The days of walking into a Costco & knowing the price of your favorite staples are over. The steady, reliable cost of Kirkland-branded products has been shattered. Prices for essential items have jumped, & the reason is a new wave of retaliatory tariffs. These policies, meant to pressure other nations, have instead created a supply chain crisis. The cost of doing business has gone up, and Costco, like other businesses, is passing that cost to the consumer. This isn't just about money; it's about the security & stability of the American household." Read the entire article from Alaen (40% of Costco sales is food & contributes to between 7-9% of national food sales. When they raise prices, it is an indicator that costs are being passed on)
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