Market Farming

[CAVM AT aol.com]

We have been contacted by a buying group in Cincinnati, Ohio which is looking for growers to supply fresh vegetables for the independent grocers and restaurants in the area.  They want an alternative to the western grown melons, tomatoes, etc.

When I asked them about volume they gave the example of melons = 3 trucks per day.  This means that a considerable number of farmers would be involved in satisfying any part of their buying needs.

They also want year round supply so greenhouse operators would play a significant role.

If any of you are interested, lets get organized and see if we can put together a plan which will allow us a fair return for our produce in a local market.

We have also been contacted by a very large buying group in the SE USA.  They are interested in huge volumes of vegetables and some fruit but they want second grade equivalents.  This means that if you have a market for your first quality display grade produce, they may be a market for the blemished and ripe produce.  But they are not interested in handful quantities.  They want truck load delivers.  Of course it doesn't all have to come from one grower.  The growers can deliver to a central pickup point or the truck can run a route picking up produce.  They are also interested in year round supplies.

So it seems if we can figure out a way to get organized so that we can deliver the desired goods we have an opportunity to become wholesalers.  It may be that some of the growers on this list already belong to a cooperative or association.  Lets work through those groups first.

Neal Van Milligen
Kentucky Enrichment Inc.
cavm AT aol.com
www.kentuckyenrichment.com