Contributed by Anna Withers, from Heartland Center collaborator Springfield Community Gardens.
Springfield Community Gardens (SCG) envisions a Springfield, Missouri, community where everyone has access to healthy, local food. To achieve this, SCG works to grow food, grow more growers, and grow the community of local producers within the Ozarks region.
While some backyard gardeners want to increase harvests for themselves and their neighbors, the
farmers SCG supports are constantly seeking access to new markets while increasing operating
efficiencies. The emergence of food hubs and USDA sponsored regional food business centers have
prompted more discussion around how to help producers scale up to institutional and larger retailer
sales.
Overcoming barriers of volume, variety, quality, delivery, insurance and food safety certification are
all challenges farmers face in scaling up to sell to restaurants, hospitals, local grocers, and food hubs.
Increasing production and taking on new communication and ordering logistics with buyers is also a
learning curve that producers must consider.
The first step in assisting producers interested in these types of sales is to help them realistically assess whether this is the type of farming operation they seek to operate! What is the vision for their unique farm? Some producers prefer the face to face interactions that come with direct to consumer sales. Other producers are attracted to the promise of fewer but larger sales and less customer interface.
Before changing production to meet larger quantities, the producer must also be realistic about their
willingness to increase record keeping processes, move to more specialized crop planning, and consider additional food safety training and certification.
SCG is currently working with several producers trying to break into wholesale or institutional markets
but who aren’t sure about first steps. Therefore, SCG used funding from the “Local Food Promotion
Program” through grant 23LFPPMO1209 from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service in order to start the conversation for farmers around getting started.
We brought together industry experts for a two-part webinar series regarding expanding to institutional sales including: University of Missouri Extension Horticulture Field Specialist, Patrick Byers; Director of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in Boston, MA, Jennifer Hashley; Executive Director of northwest Arkansas’ Spring Creek Food Hub, Anthony Mirisciotta; and Thomas Smith, Director of Operations at the Kansas City Food Hub.
View the webinar series Expanding Sales to Institutions Part I and Part II.
Together, panelists provided more context on food safety assurances, sales agreements, and
overall what to expect when approaching a new buyer. The recorded two-part webinar is now listed on SCG’s Agricultural Workshops Playlist on YouTube and is a starting point for local producers seeking to learn more. After watching the videos, producers can reach out to SCG or the Heartland Regional Food Business Center for additional advice on scaling up or developing a business plan to help them achieve their goals.