Alex McKiernan and Chloe Diegel have a name for what their Martell, Nebraska, business Robinette Farms offers customers in nearby Lincoln and Omaha. With more than 30 local farmers, ranchers, and food creators featured in their online market, Robinette Farms is like a “farm to table grocery store.”
Robinette Farms delivers produce, meat, eggs, dairy, bread, pantry items, and more year-round to families, restaurants, schools, and institutions in eastern Nebraska through online ordering. It is building a local food subscription community of people who want to enjoy local foods. It is also building market access support with sales, marketing, and distribution services for producers who want to connect with those customers.
Robinette Farms will use a new Business Builder grant from the Heartland Regional Food Business Center to further strengthen its marketing and delivery capacity.
“I think the hardest thing for us to invest in regularly is marketing and distribution,” McKiernan said. “On the marketing front people are really used to going to the grocery store, and we have to try to help them see that local produce can be convenient and affordable.”
McKiernan explained that while Nebraska is an agricultural powerhouse, most of Nebraska’s food comes from outside of its borders. McKiernan and Diegel hope that more people will eat locally grown food in Nebraska for greater connection to the land and neighbors.
“Chloe and I feel that humans are moving more and more away from a connection to the land, and food is that connection,” McKiernan said. “Food can positively transform people, and it can positively transform the land.”
See the full story at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[Editors note: Partners that built the 5-state Heartland Regional Food Business Center currently work together as the Heartland Food Business Coalition. We aim to continue building a robust business support system for the local and regional food and farm enterprises that are critical for community economic development and a food secure future. Contact Us.]