Small Bites
September 8 2022
Making a difference by creating opportunities to promote & sell more VT products to more buyers in the northeast & beyond
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Droughts, floods, heat advisories, war; global food supplies are impacted by all of these. Locally droughts have impacted production for areas of Vermont, while regionally coastal New England has been in extreme drought, followed by recent flooding in Rhode Island.
Looking ahead our regional food supply is going to be more important than ever. Many consumer-packaged products made in the northeast rely on ingredients & the supply chain from national & global sources. Farm to Plate’s Producer, Buyer, Distributor Forum is a way to engage & learn ways to support our regional food shed. Read on for more about our successful event & save the date to join us on Nov 2!
Thanks to all the folks who shared info for this issue; read on for this weeks’ features.
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Featuring "New" Operations
Bushel Market located in the former Hinesburg General Store, has been reincarnated fulfilling community needs. Located on well-traveled Route 116 the store had been closed for several years. After extensive renovations the store is a convenient stop. With his BBQ & smoker at the ready, owner Chris adds to the product mix with ready to eat meals, fantastic BBQ, & grilled vegetables. Monkton grown apples are coming in from Stine Orchard, formerly owned by the Boyer's, helping to make apples more readily available to the Hinesburg-Starksboro area. The store is continuing to evolve its product mix to include more local items.
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Northern Sun Mercantile in South Londonderry is moving some serious amounts of Vermont products to locals & travelers. The small footprint has an impressive impact. They have a successful product mix with fresh local produce, baked goods & meat as specialties. Body-care & crafts round out the selection. A seasonal house-specialty has been the Friday Night Woodfired BBQ utilizing pasture raised chicken. They also crank out meals with Vermont Raised Heritage Meats & Allen Brothers
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Producer to Keep Your Eyes On
Foster Farm Botanicals in East Calais are producers of high-quality organic herbal & flower blends along with premium hemp products.
Everything they sell is grown, harvest, dry, cut & sifted on their farm. Their line of herbs, tinctures & extracts are available up & down the state & shipped nationally too. City Market in Burlington & Roots Farm Market in Middlesex are two stores rocking the sales for the farm.
BTW- Foster Botanicals are open to increasing their wholesale accounts, check out details on their website. Select products are available through Associated Buyers of NH.
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GOOD NEWS!
Ten months after its initial pilot program in Burlington, the state of Vermont’s can carrier reuse program has officially hit its stride. “We couldn’t be more proud of the results: nearly 75,000 rescued & reused 4-pack holders so far, with a solid projection to surpass 100,000 by year’s end. It’s been amazing to see the craft beer community (retailers, distributors, consumers & breweries) step up to make this happen.”
Dubbed the “Reusiverse” by its co-creators, Ben Kogan of Reusable Solutions & Eco Friendly Beer founder Rob Vandenabeele, the “reduce-reuse-& then recycle” model has been adopted by more than 30 co-op, grocery or retail stores. The footprint extends to 35 different cities & towns throughout the state. It has resulted in the diversion of 10,000 plastic can carriers from the waste stream every month. In addition to the environmental benefits, several small, eco-minded breweries are enjoying a notable decrease in packaging costs. Read more about the program & join in.
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Pro Tip: Know Your Customer
Knowing who your customer is aides in relationships with distributors & vendors to find products that match your demographic. We have well over 800 specialty food producers in the state, across all product categories. Finding products to fit the product range & price point to generate sales is work! Aligning values of course matters too.
Eco-packaging has become a major new trend that customers are focusing in on. Middlebury Coop switched away from single use deli plastic to a food service wrap that aligns with their mission to reduce deleterious environmental impacts.
Sylvacurl is a Vermont wood products company that created compostable & reusable wood shavings for shipping food & other CGP products. McLure Packaging Systems has designed sustainable packaging & are reputed for working with small & large businesses that support thoughtful approaches to eco-friendly materials so that products arrive safely. Together these two companies are changing the shipping & packaging paradigm & meeting the changing marketplace.
Not all products fit all stores. It is good to know your customers & when adding new products & services promote them well while also keeping in mind your mission & goals for profitability.
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Creemee Season Extender!
Pack your shelves with unique products & extend the "creemee season" with Maple Creemee from Mixed Up Nut Butter. This is a premium priced product for stores with high
seasonal tourist traffic & is best when matched with a higher income
demographic.
Producers may reach out to store buyers with products that do not fit the needs of the store. When a buyer is clear on the reasoning it is helpful to the overall process. The store benefits with clear communication & the vendor learns to better gauge their prospects.
New products deserve strong product placement & good visibility. End caps can highlight new items. However, end caps are best when they are topical, without too many products. Have signage in place & remember the goal is to create a theme that bumps up sales.
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Snowballs in September? YES!
Sage Farm Goat Dairy create fabulous small batch cheese including the sublime Snowball. This soft hand rolled chevre is a delight with the delicate flavor of having been aged 2-4 weeks. Made from the milk of the alpine herd, the animals on this small farm are well cared for & loved. The farm utilizes several organic practices with attention paid to a well-balanced diet & high- quality products.
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Just Cut: Food Service Packs
Many of you already know, but new readers might not be familiar with CAE's Just Cut Program. This is the ultimate in partnering & collaborating to increase the sale of VT produce to food service buyers.
Working with local growers of fruits & veg, produce is aggregated, inspected, washed & minimally processed for use in institutional & cafe kitchens. Their ordering & delivery process helps minimize your labor costs while maximizing the nutrition, variety, & tastiness of your signature meals.
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Reminder! Bulk processed sliced apples are available from Champlain Orchards for leaf peeping pie sales!
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In Person Forum Returns Nov 2
We announce with huge fanfare that Farm to Plate & VAAFM are hosting the Return of the Producer Buyer Distributor Forum on November 2nd in Randolph! Silent since 2020, we are back at it in person.
This event is all about coming together to learn from each other across the supply & distribution chain. The goal: build sales, be profitable, learn the ins & outs of success. For new readers of Small Bites, it is in essence a live-in-person Small Bites!
If you ever wondered why a distributor didn't bring on your product, you might get an answer. Or why it is hard to meet a buyer...or what brands do stores see as "on trend" or how to get better product placement…or hear firsthand stories of growth & the challenges faced. Our Forums have traditionally addressed these issues through keynote, panel, roundtable & a freestyle "mocktail hour" of casual conversations. Invite key staff to learn the ins & outs of the trade as a training day.
So, save the date November 2! Stay tuned for the registration link.
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Relationships Matter
Across the supply chain & with staffing gaps we have seen many challenges at the store level.
A picture is worth a thousand words yet might not tell the true story. In the "before times" often when food was delivered late by a distributor the blame went straight to them. Buyers may have let loose about lost sales & anger mounted. Now, well not so much rage. More understanding. More patience.
The picture above shows mid-week gaps in a store. The reason might be up the supply chain where CPG were hindered due to lack of ingredients or packaging components. Or there may have been trucking gaps at the distribution center; product could not be received & slotted before trucks had to hit the road to make deliveries. Or maybe store staff were just not sure how to prioritize or the store was seriously understaffed.
All these variables are everyday in our world of food production, distribution, & sales. Some of these issues will be touched on at the November 2 Forum.
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Farmstand Colors
Drawing in customers & for "curb appeal" front displays are a mix of abundant melon, late season corn, eggplant, tomatoes, early squash & potatoes. The colors of September reflect all the bands in a rainbow. Farmers take pride in this seasonal switch of flavors.
But it's not Fall yet! Vermont loves to hang on to summer melons. The Lalumiere Farm in Ferrisburg has had quite the haul this year, each melon perfectly "sugared" & sold "hot off the truck" to the Vermont Food Collaborative store on Route 7 in New Haven.
Roadside signs are pointing to orchards, cider, apples & another of our seasonal specialties- donuts! Mums & fall raspberries also gain prominence this time of year. Whoo Hoo!
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In Seven Days this week, read about the partnership between the Stine Orchard & the Bushel Market & what is in store for the apple season. Changing from long time ownership under the Boyer family, Stine is bringing together BBQ, music, donuts & PYO to the community.
Longtime customers of Boyers look forward to picking apples, enjoying old time varieties along with new favorites. Congratulations to both the Stine & Boyer families for the transition keeping the orchard maintained & engaging.
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Orchards Are Open & Fall Farmstand Sales
The not-so-secret way to generate sales is to create complimentary products, have them easy to reach, keep bags handy &, when possible, equalize your pricing for "Mix & Match". This is especially true for apples & squash.
Premium apple pricing makes for jackpot sales. For other varieties find one price so folks can easily combine them for one "unit" price. Apples require general info such as what is good for eating out of hand, baking or cross over varieties that are suitable for both. It is also great to indicate both at orchards & at stores if a variety is a "short run" limited edition. This can place it in the premium pricing structure too.
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The apple crop is ready when you are! Be sure to reduce your apple varieties from far away & stock our amazing range of varieties. Each week new ones are at their prime. We have fabulous orchards. From Putney's Green Mountain & Scott Farm in the lower Connecticut Valley to Mad Tom in Dorset all the way up to Hackett Orchard in South Hero.
Stores & farmstands look forward to the apple harvest, a harbinger of fall. Not only are apples a big seller so many complimentary products add to robust sales. And of course, Donut Season begins! Cider too is a huge revenue generator, at Scott Farm they are 2022 recipients of a Working Lands Grant & have been busy setting up their cidery for the high traffic season. The base of their cider are heirloom apples producing unique flavors.
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Laughing Child Cranks the Sweeties
When it is sweet potato harvest time in the Mettawee Valley it is pretty much game over for summer. Laughing Child Farm is our state's largest supplier of sweet potatoes with several varieties to extend the storage season & several pack sizes to fit the bill for stores & shoppers.
The harvest team, still short a few workers, is cranking on the harvest, sorting, & distributing one of our favorite (fall) crops. Their seasonal farm stand is stocked with their beauties along with local meat, & on some days they have fresh sweet potato pie for sale too. Located on Rt 30 in Pawlet.
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Farmstands: Seasonal Changes
It's no surprise that staffing rules decisions at this time of year. With summer folks headed back to wherever, & leaf peepers not yet here in full force, farmers redirect their farmstand / farm store labor.
Many operations have leaned into "honor system" shopping utilizing any number of inventory management software & payment options from locked cash boxes to Venmo & credit cards. Sales can decline to a slow steady, yet the labor usage is redirected to more efficient places on the farm.
At Clear Brook Farm in Shaftsbury, 2022 is their 28th season growing bedding plants, certified organic vegetables & fruits. Throughout the season they keep their store fully staffed & do not rely on the honor system as the seasons shift.
At the height of the season, they employ over twenty-five full & part time workers. The farm stand is the main sales outlet for their produce. To round out inventory they buy in products from distributors & DSD vendors. It includes a wide range of local cheeses, yogurt, meats, baked goods & more. They close at the end of October meeting the needs of both their loyal local customers & travelers. In the winter they use their sales & production data to prepare & plan for the next year.
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Data = Promo Opportunities
Are you tracking your local food sales through your POS? Or as a farmer are you telling your story through wholesale & retail sales data? Capture this information to promote your positive impact on the local economy & for planning your product mix or farm crops.
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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
Photo Credits: Celery Eco Harvester Your tube;
Stine Orchard Melissa Pasanen Seven Days
All info is subject to change; thank you to all who contributed to this issue!
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