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Michigan Producers and Buyers Link at “Meet the Midwest Buyers Reception”
December 17 , 2007: GRAND RAPIDS – Michigan produce farmers finally found some wide open doors to wholesale buyers as they connected with representatives at the “Meet the Midwest Buyers Reception,” hosted by the Michigan Value Chain Partners.
The reception took place on December 4 during the 2007 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo and attracted more than 80 farmers and representatives from agricultural industry and commodity groups, in addition to the 10 buyers present from Whole Foods Market, Meijer, Sodexho, Sysco-Grand Rapids, Superior Sales/Gordon Food Service, Testa Produce and Goodness Greeness.
“It gave us an opportunity to meet face to face with the buyers,” said Sarah McGuire of Royal Farms Inc. “It was a door opener, and the buyers finally got a face to go with the product.” Royal Farms provided their cherry juice as refreshment at the reception, which featured local foods and beverages from around the state.
“Linking producers and potential buyers is exciting, and we were thrilled with the success of the event,” said Elaine Brown, executive director of Michigan Food & Farming Systems – MIFFS. “Helping family farms get their fresh, local product onto store shelves is so important, and we need to fix the gaps in value chains to make sure that happens.”
Buyers were impressed with the quality of product produced by the growers and some orders transpired at the event, including 1000 lbs. of fresh chestnuts sold to Meijer Retail Stores.
“Meijer Retail Stores was proud to be one of the sponsors of this event and welcomes every opportunity to be with our local growers and work with them to bring locally produced foods onto our store shelves. Our thanks to the ‘Midwest Value Chain Partners’ for hosting this worthwhile event,” said Jim Spilka, Vice-President of Produce for Meijer Retail Stores.
The Michigan Value Chain Partners (MVCP), which include MIFFS, FamilyFarmed.org and the Association of Family Farms, are working with buyers in the Midwest to help producers and wholesalers develop partnerships along value chains, from building business plans to packing and moving crates to market, to provide families with a steady, consistent supply of the food they want, from local, family farms they can trust.
A short program during the reception featured welcoming comments from Jim Slama, Director of FamilyFarmed.org, and Elaine Brown, Executive Director of MIFFS, along with a farmer’s perspective from Allen Williams, Tallgrass Beef and Board member of the Association of Family Farms. Buyers, Whole Foods Market, Sodexho and Meijer, also addressed the producers with encouraging comments about focusing on local food and family farmers and strengthening value chains in the Midwest.
“It felt like we made headway,” said McGuire about the opportunity to get her family’s cherry products on store shelves. “We’ll be following up with buyers – we have names now!”
Representatives from each of the buyers included: Jim Spilka, Kyle Kempster and Scott Calandra from Meijer; Lori Tatreau, David Lewis, Carole Peterson and Bobby Lewis from Whole Foods Market; Randy Rowlings from Sodexho; Denis Jennisch from Sysco-Grand Rapids; Todd DeWaard, Randy VandeGuch and Mitch Gasche from Superior Sales; Alice Shutway and Courtney Barton from Testa Produce; and David Allen from Goodness Greeness.
This event was made possible by the following sponsors: Meijer; GreenStone Farm Credit Services; the Wallace Center at Winrock International; the C.S. Mott Professor of
Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University (MSU); Whole Foods Market; the Nowlin Chair for Consumer Responsive Agriculture – MSU; Michigan Farm Bureau, Morse Marketing Connections, LLC; Fluid; Originz, LLC; and the Michigan Department of Agriculture Select Michigan Program.
This event was sponsored and implemented by the Wallace Center National Value Chain Network through the MVCP. This team will be following up with growers and buyers and are making plans to host “grower readiness” training for those growers not yet ready to participate in the value chain to supply product to these buyers.
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Founded in 1998, MIFFS is a statewide membership organization (501c3) whose purpose is to promote diverse efforts that foster and sustain food and farming systems that improve economic, ecological and social well-being. MIFFS has been effective at establishing successful partnerships among producers, markets and institutions that have created more profitable, environmentally friendly food systems in Michigan.
The organization’s vision is based on the premise that agricultural productivity, environmental stewardship and profitability reinforce each other for the benefit of Michigan’s rural and urban communities. To learn more, please visit www.miffs.org or call (517) 432-0712. |
