Small Bites
April 7, 2022
creating opportunities to promote
& sell more VT products
to more buyers
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It's April!
Farmers are cranking in the greenhouses seeding in while also harvesting early crops. Mighty Food Farm in Shaftsbury is one of many operations across the state harvesting & selling to stores & area farmstands. The fresh greens always come at the right time for "Spring tonics" for shoppers & to refresh & reinvigorate produce department sales. Across the state, greenhouses are part of the farm landscape extending the season making it easier for stores to sell early season crops.
Retooling for seasonal shifts is an integral part of buying & understanding product life cycles. Local coops have long supported local growers purchasing early season produce as have independent community stores. More & more farmers are opening their farmstands in April. Part of this is attributed to the impact the pandemic had. Remember April 2020? Shopping habits were radically altered. Folks were leery of shopping stores, farmers quickly shifted to curbside, pre-order or online markets or CSA's run by farm & food nonprofits part of the Farm to Plate Network. Customers remember the ease of shopping locally & the great flavor.
Another aspect of Spring is deep cleaning. April is often less busy at stores making it a great time to clean out & reorganize walkin coolers & display areas to get ready for the big shift to abundant locally grown seasonal produce. You may be doing some rearranging as well in your storage areas to best accommodate seasonal shifts. Reducing your apple orders to make room for southern fruits will be part of your produce department seasonal attention to details. Cleaning & reorganizing your non-refrigerated produce dry goods now will help when you get busy with local vendors. So, get busy organizing & enjoying early Spring greens to give you energy.
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Great News Coming Out of Windham County
The new Brattleboro Coop General Manager is gaining his footing after joining the coop in March.
Lee Bradford comes to Vermont from the west with a wide range of skills gleaned from his deep roots in distribution from C& S to UNFI. His work as the general manager at the coop will intersect with the Farm to Plate goals that support our local & regional economy. His long-term strategies will ensure the coops' financial health through streamlined operations upgrading technology (think local food tracking!) & deepening community relations in the area.
The Farm to Plate Network welcomes Lee & we look forward to sharing the VT food community with him.
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More Good Grocer News!
The East Calais Community Trust announces it has a new operator for the general store. For several years, the store has been in the process of being restored as a community center. It has taken the next step on its journey with Jessica Quinn leading the way to open the store & meeting the various needs of the community- including buying Vermont made & grown foods. Congratulations to the Trust & to Jess.
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Vermont coops joined with northeast coops to shed more light on trash in the food system.
Middlebury Coop's efforts to inform & align with similar education efforts at the Brattleboro Coop. When they shop, more & more customers are understanding their "waste footprint" & stepping up to make critical choices to minimize trash & reduce the use of single use plastic. The slash your trash program is a way stores are helping move the needle.
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It's Spring: Fun Food Time!
If there is one thing we have in Vermont, it is great food producers. From sweet tender greenhouse greens to the specialty snacking category, we have foods well represented for all seasons & activities.
As buyers in stores & farmstands know, a well-balanced product mix that weaves in seasonality generates sales. In addition to the vegies from our farms, here are fun foods to think of for outdoor activities or just a bump in sales for fun treats.
Because somewhere in Vermont maple is still being tapped, we must mention Eddie's Hand Cut Maple Donuts. Sold DSD on their northern route & available through Kathy Killam. Be one of Eddie's retail customers, as we are pretty sure you will have good sales with these truly amazing (& fun!) donuts.
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In 2021 there was an ownership change with the well-known Time Out for Whoopie. They are shipped to direct to stores in a set route as well as sent via shipping services. Contact Erin to up your "fun food" category!
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Developing a Niche Market
Sweet on Vermont known for its cow inspired marketing brittle & chocolates has diligently worked to land its target customer. Sales at airports! Reaching out to Hudson they were able to sell at BTV in the grab & go store.
With stores in 89 airports & commuter terminals across the country, Hudson strives to include products unique to each store location. Grab & go products, beverages, & the "fun" snack category are well represented. It sounds like some buying decisions are made local to stores rather than all made by the corporate office.
Sweet on Vermont artisan confections are available to all stores nationally through Mable. They are great sellers at the Brattleboro & Hunger Mountain Coops.
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Calling All Food Manufacturers!
Here's a tip! Create a tab on your website for wholesale buyers that includes basic product & distribution info to streamline communication with potential new buyers. You may want to include your pack sizes, pictures of your retail line, delivery info, or delivery routes. Sugar Bob's Finest Kind has a "wholesale tab" with info to help buyers buy through Faire.
VT Fresh Pasta has tabs geared to wholesale buyers & includes a "where to buy map" that can help store buyers look at opportunities.
Your business may choose other tabs to highlight. Keep in mind your website is the first stop for info to encourage wholesale orders. Make it easy for store buyers to access baseline information.
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In the Dairy Cooler
Across the state Vermont dairy products reach local customers. Obviously, the Cabot products are front & center. Ubiquitous are the one pound salted & unsalted butter. However, not to be overlooked by Dairy Buyers is the Cabot Extra Creamy Premium Butter sold in 8 oz pack sizes. Home bakers love unsalted butter because it allows for maximum flavor control. This butter is especially tasty with pancakes & 2022 maple syrup!
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Success at SBN
Regional Food Tradeshow
Vermont food manufacturers had great things to say about the regional local food tradeshow we promoted in Small Bites since early winter. The event had fabulous producers & fantastic conversations with buyers. Through the tradeshow, SBN in Massachusetts is working to increase regional sales from all the NE states.
Farm to Plate knows many food manufacturers seek to grow their businesses to meet regional sales goals. Selling through regional market channels they can reach an expanded customer base.
Think of it this way. You may have a product that fits the NE skier demographic. Your product is "ski adjacent". Your early target customer is the grab & go skier. By selling direct to stores near ski areas you develop a market for your product. A next step to increase regional sales to this constituency could be attending the regional tradeshow & set up meetings with store or distributor buyers. Distributors who attend, such as Associated Buyers are seeking new products & probing producer variables (ex: scaled operations, streamlined production, potential for growth). The SBN tradeshow is highly recommended by a number of this weeks’ participating businesses.
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Farmer Stands are Opening!
Across the state, farmers are gearing up to open their farm stores. Chandler Pond Farm in Wheelock is one of the many with an April opening.
Besides the usual "spring cleaning" there is product selection. Based on the previous year, farmers are looking at what sold & what might not have been great sellers. Just like at traditional food stores, farmstand products have a life cycle too. Sales can be dependent on proper post- handling care, display attributes, pricing, product availability from distributors & if the product fits the customer base.
Farmstands & seasonal farm stores access a wide range of products from our specialty food producers. Farm Connex in Hardwick has widened their distribution range & increased VT products including produce from Pete's Greens & expanding sales of Deep Root organic produce. Stores & farmstands can check out the Farm Connex distribution routes & full range of producers.
The independent distributor Pumpkin Village Foods has a "Vermont tab" on their website with their routes & VT producers listed. They continue to add more farm stores to their routes. Specialty food producers are pleased that distributors are selling to more farm stores & seasonal farmstands helping them reach new customers.
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Trillium Hill Farm in Hinesburg worked hard to get their store in ship shape for an April opening. Check them out- tons of locally produced food shipped through the food hub network, independent distributors, & DSD.
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"We want to share the news with you that we’ve decided to shut down the sheep dairy. My body told me I couldn't do it anymore, and, after some initial reluctance, my heart and soul wholeheartedly agree. "
-Maria
Cate Hill Farm Craftsbury
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Cate Hill Orchard in Craftsbury is making some soulful changes. They are going to keep raising lambs for meat, have a small homestead milking flock, & may sell some raw milk. But mostly they are going to do other things. Josh will expand the orchard, spend more time tending the trees & fruit to ramp up their cider vinegar operation. Maria will lead more singing groups, & make rituals, feasts & ways to bring the community onto the farm.
We will miss the skyr & sheep cheese sold to stores & at the Montpelier farmers' market, but we totally understand changes farmers make as they work the land.
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A recent New Yorker article by Nick Romeo, How Much Do Things Really Cost is worth a look-see regarding "true costs" as relates to consumption. A Dutch non-profit True Price, studies a number of factors including "externalities" like environmental, labor, supply chain traceability, & community infrastructure. There are many insights in the article & at True Price that are likely of interest to Small Bites readers.
"If a product is sold for a true price, then no damage is done to people or to nature: it is fully sustainable. If all products are sold for a true price, then the global economy is sustainable."
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Speaking of Prices
Prices continue going up across the board. There are so many factors, including the impacts of the Russian war.
This week we heard of new cost increases. For one producer, eggs have gone from $30 to $88 due to avian flu, shortening rose from $34 to $94; sugar from $80 to $115. When you roll it all together there remain great uncertainties compounded by staffing, packaging costs, & current global factors of the pandemic's impact.
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Grateful Greens uses creative, low impact, indoor farming technology that utilizes solar, rainwater, eco-friendly systems. A nutrient-rich organic soil mix with organic seeds creates healthy, tasty vegetables. They started this “food for good” journey with Sunflower Greens & will be adding more varieties soon.
As you may know, Ukraine is the largest global sunflower producing region in the world. You can showcase your antiwar sentiments in your produce department by selling Grateful Greens spring tonic sunflower shoots.
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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!
New Yorker Apple illustration by Nicholas Konrad
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