Tags Food Hub

Food Hub

The impetus behind Food Hubs tends to come from groups of people in communities that are seeking to create more scale for their local food initiatives. Farmer’s markets and CSA’s have demonstrated demand for local foods, but they have not been sufficiently scalable to serve larger customers. This has led to the desire to create mechanisms for aggregation, the idea being that a Hub could aggregate production from multiple farms to serve the needs of larger customers, whether they be large retailers, food service distributors, schools or other institutional buyers. Many initiatives are being implemented around the country, with many different services being offered to farmers and many different go-to-market strategies and business model paths.

There are cross-docking brokerage food hubs, which act as a sales agent and organizes its suppliers to consolidate shipments at a central facility without holding inventory. There are stocking distributor food hubs that purchase large quantities (typically pallet or truckload quantities) at wholesale prices from a wide range of suppliers, hold them in inventory, and then sell and transport smaller quantities of a range of products to a wide variety of smaller retail and/or food service businesses.

3 Lessons from a Leading Food Hub

10 minute read of Free article by Edible-Alpha®

We’ve been talking a lot about food hubs lately. These vital organizations—sometimes structured as nonprofits, sometimes as for-profits and sometimes as a blend—build up...

Dynamic Rhode Island Food Hub Connects Farmers and Eaters

1 hour 20 minutes Free course content by Edible-Alpha®

Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s Jesse Rye gives Tera the scoop on this innovative, multifaceted food hub that’s strengthening New England’s regional food ecosystem.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

How to Make Food Hubs Financially Viable

10 minute read of Free article by Edible-Alpha®

The food industry consists of many rungs, meaning there are a wealth of business opportunities. Some are obvious, such as growing food crops, manufacturing...

The Good Acre Food Hub Pivots to Hunger Relief

1 hour 10 minutes Free course content by Edible-Alpha®

The Good Acre’s David Van Eeckhout talks with Tera about the Twin Cities food hub’s evolving role in uplifting diverse farmers, supporting local food makers and increasing community access to high-quality local produce.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

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Get to Know USDA Local Food Grants

52 minutes of Free video content by Edible-Alpha®

This webinar reviews resources available from the USDA, digs into the details of LFPP and FMPP grants, and integrates a live audience Q&A to learn more about what is eligible for award. Listen to learn more about how to submit for these grants funds that support local foods!

Video about Raising Capital for businesses that are Startups | Pre-Venture | Growing and Scaling

How SAGE revitalizes agriculture near cities

1 hour Free podcast by Edible-Alpha®

SAGE contributes to the food system by helping elevate the data around the impact of food and agriculture in a way that helps people understand the connections between this sector and the rest of society and the economy.

Podcast about Legal for businesses that are Startups

Measure What Matters In Your Context

10 minute Free read by Edible-Alpha®

Quantitative measurement of key business drivers brings focus and clarity to what can be a chaotic process of entrepreneurship and provides direction that proves to be a north star during times of trial.

Article about Operations for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups

Visualizing The Food System With Kitchen Sync Strategies

1 hour of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Kitchen Sync gets different people at the table – including the private sector – using the right language to invite everyone in to a problem solving and solutions-based session that meets their values and needs, rather than trying to change minds about those fundamental concepts. In bringing those people to the table, they are also better able to visualize and communicate the multitude of actors it will take to improve the food system for the long term.

Podcast about Operations for businesses that are Pre-Venture

“Rolling Up Your Sleeves” – How KTC Does Effective Food Business Consulting

1 hour of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

The heart of Kitchen Table Consultants' work is one-on-one coaching with food and farm clients, but as their work has grown they have started helping other organizations provide better technical assistance. Rather than just make plans or recommendations for clients, it is critically important to their firm’s mission and values that they “roll up their sleeves” alongside the clients to help them implement their recommendations.

Podcast about Operations for businesses that are Startups | Growing and Scaling

All Organizations – Food Pantries Included – Can Innovate On Their Business Model

10 minute Free read by Edible-Alpha®

The business model is the sum of all the things that ensures the organization sustainably makes money and delivers on its core products, services and mission. What many food entrepreneurs don't often realize is that innovation comes not just in the form of new products or services, but also in their business model.

Article about Business Models for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups