Community Market: Getting Close to Opening
YAY! The wait is almost over! It's getting closer to opening at the new community market opening in downtown Bennington. Located on Main Street, the non-profit store prides itself on being community supported.
The mission of the year round Bennington Community Market is to support local farmers & food producers, increase access to healthy food for all members of the community, & contribute to the revitalization of downtown Bennington. The grand opening ribbon cutting is coming up on March 9
The model is unique to the area. Fifteen percent of all Bennington Community Market memberships go into a "Fresh Food Access Fund" to provide gift cards for Bennington neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity. They are distributed through several key partner organizations: Project Against Violent Encounters, Greater Bennington Community Services, Support and Services & Home, & Sunrise Family Resource Center.
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Getting into National Stores: Stroke of Luck?
Getting specialty products into national stores is complex. Some decisions are made at regional offices looking for a bit of "local color". Sometimes stores have a purchasing liaison with the ability to "take risks" based on knowing the local culture. Sometimes stores want nothing to do with populating their shelves with local or regionally aligned products. That can be because of deep anti-competitive contractual agreements.
It was great to catch Garuka Bars along with many Vermont products at Vermont's only REI Coop Store. This store had a community coordinator tasked with bringing on Vermont food products for the holidays. Sales have been so great, there have been multiple reorders! YAY!
Another business that made headway into a national outlet is Shacksbury Cider which onboarded with Trader Joe's over 5 years ago. Selling to a limited number of the stores, they sell in most New England states with fabulous sales in VT & ME stores. In South Burlington they recently received primary product placement near the registers. The sales & marketing team at the cidery noticed an uptick, reached out & found sales had increased significantly because of an endcap stack display near the registers making sales sky rocket.
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Brownsville Butcher & Pantry is gearing up for a newly claimed annual Cabin Fever event that showcases the local foods of Vermont & the NE region in partnership with Ascutney Outdoors. March 10th will be a showcase of the amazingness.
Folks will enjoy BBP’s complimentary nacho bar, a cash bar featuring BBP's very own collaboration brews, & of course kicking good live music. Ascutney Outdoors will have a 50/50 raffle to raise money for the rope tow, tubing lift, & all the other wonderful operations they’re running on the mountain. This is how a community can come together: raising money for the outdoor center, having a space to see neighbors, while enjoying great food and drink.
Both BBP & AO reputations have grown throughout their short lives. The store is a place to meet neighbors, engage in community sponsored events all while showcasing the best in service & quality food.
Looking to break your cabin fever? Head down to Brownsville. Join the good times March 10th from 5-8PM to join in the fun.
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Expanding Brands:
continues to expand its brand. Through a Working Lands Grant they have reworked their procurement to include more Vermont ingredients in the production of their allergy friendly African-based products.
The grant allows them to cover higher food costs & increases in labor associated with production & processing. In about two years their direct ordering from farms & food hubs will be streamlined as part of their normal operation while reducing some risks always associated with system changes.
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Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Sisters of Anarchy ice cream is a HOT item! 2023 is a year where their products are going to land in nearly every corner of the state & even beyond. They are now in the Vermont AGNE retail stores shipping DSD from Johnson to Londonderry. They have just recently been onboarded by Food Connects out of Brattleboro to expand their regional reach.
The expansion of distribution is a terrific opportunity for stores & farmstands to have an artisan batch ice-cream with true farm-based roots. The ice cream base is from Kingdom Creamery & all the fruit is grown on their farm! Double YAY!
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Vermont Farmstead Cheese seeks to increase sales of their wonderfully flavored cheeses. If you are a store or farmstand keep in mind their retail-friendly packaging. As you can see they have been known to partner with some of our states most recognized brewski-brands! They currently distribute wholesale direct to specialty grocers & restaurants, & through many local & regional distributors including VT Roots, P&S, Performance Food Group dba Black River Produce & Provisions International. They reach the wider northeast market for their cheese through Seacrest, a cheese distributor based in Massachusetts.
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Did you hear this? A big YAY!
VT Bean Crafters has secured funding in partnership with NOFA-VT & Sodexo to address current equipment bottlenecks for dry bean growers throughout New England, particularly those in Vermont.
The goal is to increase the amount of commercially-available beans grown in the Northeast. This will help value-added processors like VT Bean Crafters purchase more local beans to produce the value-added products companies like Sodexo which are looking to meet local purchasing goals & expand plant-forward menus.
The plan is for new processing equipment purchased to be freely available as an ‘equipment commons' for multiple farms to benefit from a cooperative venture.
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YAY! A Big Step Forward in Shipping Frozen
Last year Sisters of Anarchy began producing dry ice in pellets & 5 pound blocks, used in their agricultural operations, as well as supplying other agricultural producers & the Agency of Ag.
Two Richmond companies, Maple Wind Farm & Green Slice have jumped in with SOA for dry ice for shipping purposes. If you are shipping or exploring shipping frozen products contact Becky (802) 846-7978 about the SOA dry ice for shipping.
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Retail Training Sessions
Coming up, a 6 week session for food stores to meet & cover pertinent topics, problem solve, & join in sharing good practices to learn from each other. Stay tuned for the upcoming details!
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Food Service Pack Size Available!
Butterworks Farm, seeks customers for their larger size of buttermilk. Use in store meal-prep programs & on-farm fried chicken dinners. This larger size serves food service folks who are looking to make Vermont-based signature dishes like a signature 'ranch-style' dressing for salads or a key ingredient for farm-made fried chicken & biscuits. YAY!
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This kid from Barn First wants some sunshine & blue sky!
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YAY! Update on VT Bread & Koffee Kup Bakery
A federal judge said it was entirely appropriate for attorneys for former employees of Vermont Bread to “follow the money” in determining who made the decision to shutter the bakery in 2021.
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Growing Sales Through National Distribution: Off-Invoice Costs
Not so yay. It's a nightmare out there for some businesses selling through national distribution companies.
Why? Off Invoice deductions. Buy-backs. Chargebacks. A recent conversation on Linked In was illuminating. From Jordan Buckner:
"How expensive is it to work with National Distributors? Here are my real numbers -- Amount Invoiced to KeHE: $32,000. Amount Paid: $21,000. Difference: $11,000.
That’s $11,000 in chargebacks, fees, and returned products from retailers.
That’s 34% of everything we sold them, meaning we lost all of our profit margin and barely broke even.
Suffice it to say, we stopped selling to them because it would put us out of business. "
Read the comments along with
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YAY! Farms are Reducing Plastic Inputs
team effort with Long Wind Farm in Thetford, VT to design & distribute
paper display cartons.
These are easily recycled replacing the ubiquitous thermo- formed plastic clamshells once desired by grocers. Times are changing. Shoppers & stores both want less plastic moving toward paper-based containers.
One-pint containers are recyclable after the end user has emptied them. As a result reducing the amount of plastic entering the plastic recycling stream, landfills, & waterways.
The shipping & display packaging available as printed or plain. If you have an interest contact McLure with any questions you may have. It's time to reduce the plastification in our food shed. Farmers can work with this local company for 100% recyclable display grab & go cartons.
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Farmers as Retailers:
Incentivizing Sales
Rebop Farm in Brattleboro is one of our farm stores that have incorporated a Discounted Farmstand Credit gift card. It was created as an alternative to buying a meat CSA share. The credit can be used on everything sold in the store, or at their stand at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market. YAY!
Participants save 5% off a gift card of any value over $250 paid with cash, check or EBT (EBT purchases may be used for eligible food items only). There are no restrictions & no expiration dates.
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The easy-to-read roadside sign highlights some of the products available in March at Agricola
Farm in Panton. They own & operate Monti Verdi Salumi, a USDA inspected facility where salumi charcuterie, Italian
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Von Trapp Farmstead in the heart of Vermont's Mad River has a vibrant store. They feature their own meat & cheese while also stocking fabulous products from other farm-based businesses as well as specialty food & artisan goods.
The quality of their cheese & yogurt is intimately tied to the health of their land & animals. Farming the land since 1959 they have practiced regenerative farming - though it wasn't labeled as regenerative back then; it was just farming. Their practices have always met all standards required to be certified organic while also increasing the ecological diversity of their soils.
The cows graze on pasture, the cow's manure fertilizes the land, & their hay fields feed the herd throughout the winter. The cow’s milk is turned into cheese, whey, the by-product of cheesemaking is fed to forest-raised pigs. The cheeses, yogurts, & meats feed the family & community. Every retail or wholesale purchase supports their family-run farm.
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Stewart Maple in Cuttingsville is getting their retail store ready for the big mud season push! Not only do they sell their fabulous certified organic maple products direct to consumers, they purchase products from distributors & 3rd party platform Mable to round out their inventory. Stewart products are available wholesale to stores & farmstands too!
After the big weekend snow, temperatures will rise, day length increases, & the taps will be running full steam. That means the sugar house retail store will also be full steam ahead with seasonal visitors delighting in all things maple!
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Tradeshows, Mixers & Gatherings
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The 12th annual SBN local food tradeshow had a number of Vermont food producers, meeting with area distributors on March 1st. VT Way Foods highlighted a primary distribution partner- Food Connects. While Trenchers Farmhouse met with buyers they also promoted through signage their "corporate gift giving" option to entice bulks sales. Other VT businesses were there as well making inroads into regional sales. Regional distributors AGNE & AB also attended the trade show meeting new potential vendors & some of their established brands.
Regional tradeshows & meet ups are a fantastic way to become introduced to buyers, promote your brand, & get clues as to how to continually develop an in-person marketing strategy that benefits your business. YAY for SBN’s support!
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Business Services & Grants
There are a number of great organizations & businesses supporting the healthy growth of our farm & food enterprises. With growth comes a lot of new responsibilities. Now more than ever, there are business support services to help with organization, accounting, & marketing.
Emily Grey provides online trainings that some VT farm & food businesses have engaged in with great results. Alyssa of Stewart Maple has expanded their retail operation as a result attending trainings & has only positive words from the experience geared to women entrepreneurs.
Brahva Virtual Assistant eases your workload. Great for website upgrades, email management, scheduling calls with clients, business cards, copy for blogs, & much more!
Intervale Center * provides coaching services. VT Economic Development has 12 regional offices covering all areas of Vermont working with all kinds of businesses. (* The prior issue we incorrectly referred to it as the Intervale Foundation)
Mercy Connections focuses entrepreneurial coaching & support services for women. They offer a number of free workshops ranging from branding to bookkeeping.
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Coming Right Up!
Weights & Measures hosts scale inspection events in April for anyone who uses scales at farmers’ markets or farm stands to sell produce or other commodities. This testing is required by law. Plan to attend one of the inspection sites listed here. Bring your legal for trade scale & any accessories that you use with it for weighing items for sale.
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