Consumer interest in fresh local, seasonal ingredients continues to grow, even in rural communities. Yet establishing a reliable farm to market network for restaurateurs, caterers and retailers is often difficult.
Now, however, the Mendo Lake Food Hub has set up a way for restaurants to purchase local vegetables, fruits, nuts, honey, olives and olive oil, and cut flowers for their business. Using a web-based system, Lake and Mendocino County farmers upload the products they have for sale twice a week. Buyers select from available crops to have the freshest, most delicious food around delivered right to the business.
After receiving the order, farmers deliver their products to the closest cold storage “node,” which are shipping containers converted into cold-storage structures. There are nodes in Ukiah, Caspar, and Willits, plus on-farm cold storage locations in Lake County. Mendocino Coast Produce, a Fort Bragg-based distribution company, picks up the items and delivers to buyers. The Food Hub takes care of accounting tasks such as billing buyers, paying vendors, and running reports. In addition, the Food Hub provides farmers with technical assistance and free marketing under the Grown Local brand.
For a variety of reasons, local consumers are demanding more and more local products and services. The Food Hub demonstrates a creative, local solution to the problems farmers have distributing their products in such a vast rural area. The result is that local businesses are able to meet the demand of their customers for fresh local produce and flowers. Providing local products allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition by demonstrating your support for the local economy, providing fresh and healthy food to your customers, while preserving our local farming heritage.
Local retailers, restaurants, caterers, florists, senior centers, day care centers, and other wholesale buyers have had success with the service.
“When we began utilizing the Mendo Lake Food Hub to source more locally grown food and labeling our local produce with the Grown Local signs, customers were thrilled,” Steve May, co-owner of Surf Market in Gualala, said. “I have not seen customers that excited about anything we have done in the 30 years I have been at the market. Our customers called me personally to thank me and shared pictures of our displays on their Facebook pages, as well as commenting and liking our Facebook posts.”
Order Friday from 3 p.m. until Monday 9 a.m. for Tuesday delivery. Order Wednesday from 9 a.m. until Thursday 9 a.m. for Friday delivery. Register on http://www.MendoLakeFoodHub.com or by calling 467-3238.
