Want A Strong Profit? Find Outlets For All Of Your Produce

Four Seasons Produce FEATUREDuring a pre-workshop conference call, the panelists who are leading American Farm Marketing’s How You Can Supply The Farm-To-Table Movement discussed how cultivating multiple customers can help small to medium growers find outlets for all their produce.

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“I’m thinking in terms of farmers wanting to sell every apple they have. No 1 grading goes to grocery stores. Restaurants really care about taste,” says Mikey Azzara, founder of Zone 7, a local food distributor for grocery stores and restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“Profitability comes from getting every single product sold rather than composting or donating. Keep all those customers basis in mind,” Azzara adds.

“Some of best stories is when farmers discover they can supply schools a second sizing of an apple that now has a market that didn’t have a market,” says Sara Tedeschi, the project manager for National Farm To School Network.

Take for example a striped pepper (which is between green and red), Azzara says.

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“It has little to no value for grocery stores, and even restaurants will reject them. The schools don’t mind,” he says.

The distributors on the panel agreed that there is plenty of room for more produce suppliers in the local-food movement.

“There’s ton of demand that’s not being met,” says Jerry Adams of West Michigan FarmLink.

 

 

 

 

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