Some interesting recent trends of where people are creating, selling, and buying food. I’d love to hear your experiences with any of these or twists you’ve noticed:
- Former retailers going local at the farmer’s market:
A chocolatier who has done quite well in their retail location and online has recently discovered the thrill of connecting with local customers at the farmer’s market. Most producers we work with start at farmer’s markets then branch out. Kinda cool. - Produce sales on residential corners:
Is this a California phenomenon? Lately I’ve seen lots of strawberry and other fruit vendors on residential corners at random places, some in more urban areas and some smack dab in suburban. Including a San Francisco corner with homes in the $5-10 million range. These aren’t the peanut / orange vendors you may know if you live in Los Angeles. It’s guys with maybe 6 cartons of strawberries out there standing on the corner selling. Could organic farmers get away with this? - Land owners – produce grower connections:
A “Decentralized Urban Farming Network in Brooklyn,” BK Farmyards has the slogan: You have the land, we grow the produce. On the flipside, a land owner who wants to grow exotic produce contacted us asking if we knew anyone who wanted to grow anything interesting. I sense a matchmaking opportunity (or do you already use a network for such Food Match.com purposes?) - Organic Farms are now desirable subdivision amenities, according to a recent New York Times article. Imagine that 5-10 years ago when amenities were all about more garage space for cars you’d need to drive to the supermarket for produce.
Posted in Starting a Food Business