Logistics

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2011 Wholesale Market Season Announced – Now Seeking Buyers!

The details for the second season of PSFN Wholesale Markets are officially released! These business-to-business local food aggregation sites (in Seattle and Mount Vernon) will be open for business beginning the third week in July, and PSFN is now actively seeking business and institutional buyers

Seattle Wholesale Market

Wednesday Mornings 8:45 AM – 10:00 AM

July 20 – August 31

Mt. Zion Baptist Church overflow parking lot, 1634 19^th Ave (and Madison), Seattle

(Eastern-facing grass lot across from church)

More info: http://www.psfn.org/seattle-market/

Skagit Wholesale Market

Thursday Mornings 8:30 – 10:00 AM

July 21 – September 8

Skagit Valley Co-op parking lot, 202 South First St, downtown Mount Vernon

More info: http://www.psfn.org/skagitmarket

PSFN’s Wholesale Markets aim to make locally grown and produced goods easily available to institutions and businesses in Seattle, Skagit County and surrounding areas. The Markets are a great way for restaurant and foodservice buyers to get their produce, grains, beans, meat (lamb, chicken, beef, pork and seafood), and pasta in the same place at the same time, at wholesale quantities and prices! The Wholesale Markets are not traditional farmers markets but rather “pick up and pay” sites for wholesale buyers. Institutions and business that may benefit from this wholesale market include schools, daycare centers, retirement communities, country clubs, hospitals, restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, distributors, and caterers, among others. Because of the business relationship focus, we discourage non-business entities from using the site. (Keep reading to find out how individual shoppers and eaters can play a role!)

Each week, the markets will each feature a diverse selection of fresh, seasonal and value-added foods all produced in the Puget Sound region. Each market will host around 15 unique vendors. While Wholesale Market vendors are all PSFN members, any commercial or institutional buyer can shop – member or not! Interested buyers can visit the markets to shop on-the-spot, to help plan seasonal menus, to sign up for the weekly fresh sheet, and to place orders with producers ahead of time for the next week! While featured vendors will bring a limited selection of product to display and sell, most orders should be placed in advance from the weekly fresh sheet.

Chef Chris Johnson of UNited General Hospital with purchases at the 2010 Skagit Wholesale Market

On Monday, July 18, PSFN will begin distributing the weekly fresh sheet for both markets. The fresh sheet will include vendor contact information, available products, and quantities available for wholesale. To receive the weekly market Fresh Sheet for either the Skagit or Seattle Wholesale Markets, contact Ellen Manderfield (ellen@psfn.org) with your contact information: name, email, phone number, and business name. There is no fee (for vendors or buyers!) to participate in the Wholesale Markets.

While the Wholesale Markets aren’t accessible by every shopper, locavores can help spread the word! If you have a wedding or special event planned for this summer, tell your caterer that you’d like local food on the event menu. Have a favorite restaurant? Ask them for local Thursday or Friday specials inspired by their Wholesale Market purchases! Have family living in a retirement community or receiving senior meals? Suggest a fresh, local lunch to the agency for more nutrition bang for their buck!

PSFN is especially excited to bring this year’s Seattle Wholesale Market to Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Mt. Zion and five other Seattle churches are part of a groundbreaking project with the University of Washington School of Nursing called Moving Together in Faith and Health. They are working to stem the tide of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes in their surrounding community. Bringing local farms, businesses and institutions together at Mt. Zion will be an excellent way for our food community to work together to benefit all. Mt. Zion’s Senior Pastor, Rev. Aaron Williams, says this partnership comes at a crucial time. “As we move together to implement policies that promote healthy eating and active living in our churches, our partnership with PSFN and its Seattle Wholesale Market will make fresh, locally grown produce affordable and accessible. We are empowering our churches and our community by giving them healthy options.” For more details on the public health impacts of the Wholesale markets and other PSFN projects, check out this blog post by Johns Hopkins’ School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future!

Check out these stories written about last years’ markets:
PSFN Member Goes Extra Mile To Source Local for Sedro-Woolley Hospital
New Skagit WholeSale Market Brings Local Suppliers, Buyers Together (Grown Northwest)
WholeSale Market Brings Together Farmers and Chefs (Go Skagit.com)
WholeSale Market Aims to Connect Local Producers to Retail Buyers
Farmers cater to wholesale buyers’ needs (Capitol Press)
An interview with Chef Chris Johnson of United General Hospital (Grown Northwest)
Skagit WholeSale Market takes inventory of its first season (Skagit Valley Herald)

We’re so excited for another successful Wholesale Market season! Wholesale buyers, we hope to see you there!

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 24th, 2011

F2T Partners visit F2T Producer 21 Acres

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Today Karen and Emma, PSFN’s Farm to Table (F2T) team were joined by other members of the F2T Partnership on a tour of 21 Acres in Woodinville. F2T representatives from WSDA and Aging and Disability Services (ADS), as well as senior meal site partner Catholic Community Services (CCS) were all able to make the trip out today. 21 Acres (a PSFN member since November 2010) was the first farm to make a F2T connection and delivery! In January, Farm Manager Rosy Smit personally delivered 50 lbs of freshly harvested leeks to F2T meal partner, Chicken Soup Brigade. The leeks were quickly made into a yummy Caribbean tilapia dish with lime and leeks and was delivered shortly to Chicken Soup Brigade clients. Rosy and the rest of 21 Acres’ staff continue to be a wonderful partner in F2T and in the local food economy on the whole.

21 Acres is in the process of building an impressive structure. Once complete, this facility will include a retail co-op for the farm’s and others’ products. The building will also have a natural root cellar, cold storage, rent-able commercial kitchens for the development of value-added products, kitchen classrooms, office space, and will serve as a drop point for wholesale transactions. The building itself will be super eco-friendly, complete with a rooftop garden, composting toilets, and even a shower to encourage employees to bike to work (21 Acres is on a couple of bike trails!). This will be such a great, central facility – we can’t wait to see the completed building.

Check out these photos of the F2T Partnership visit to 21 Acres today!

A lovely morning in Woodinville (the weather held just long enough for us to complete our 90-minute tour!)

21 Acres Farm Manager, Rosy Smit, points out the lay of the land to F2T Partners: Rochelle Carlson (CCS), Karen (PSFN), Shoko Kumagai (WSDA), while 21 Acres Facilities Manager, Brooke, looks on

An on-site (in-field!) brick pizza oven makes 21 Acres a great spot for educational tours for all ages. Now THAT'S Farm to Table!

F2T Project Manager Maria Langlais of Aging & Disability Services checks out the farm

Mmmmm... garlic!

Karen (PSFN), Brooke (21 Acres), Rochelle (CCS), Shoko (WSDA), and Heidi (21 Acres) listen to Rosy talk about opportunities for veterans' groups at the farm

Though it looks a little austere now, come summer this will be a beautiful and flourishing comprehensive agricultural center!

Heidi Pomeroy, Retail Manager for 21 Acres, points out to the group how classrooms, kitchens, and retail space will all come together in the new facility

Thanks for a great day, 21 Acres, and thanks to our awesome F2T Partners for braving the weather to come check out the other side of institutional food service and production. What a great group of people to be working with!

Posted by Emma Brewster on March 11th, 2011

Member Highlight: Nuri Aydinel, Crown Pacific Fine Foods/Eat Local Distribution

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Tell us a little bit about your background.

I came to Washington when I was 16 as a foreign exchange student from Turkey. My family has been farming primarily cotton in Turkey so I have a little background with that. Cotton is an important agricultural export and quite popular so that’s why my parents did it.

I came back to Washington when I was 18 to attend college because I already had friends here, knew the area and the schools. I majored in Business and Economics and graduated from University of Washington.

I am relatively new to the food industry but I was familiar with local food production back in Turkey. It was normal to visit the markets with all kinds of fresh produce that looked and tasted delicious. I first met Tony Ataee (Founder, Crown Pacific), because I was thinking of importing Turkish apricots. As I talked with Tony, I realized it was not feasible for me to do because the margins were too small. So I began helping out around here and then jumped right in when the opportunity came up. I’ve been with Crown Pacific for about a year. Now I help build the business, expand into new growth markets, etc.

Posted by Lucy Norris on January 11th, 2011

CPPW Farm to Table Update

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Puget Sound Food Network announced in July our involvement in a new and unique Farm to Table project designed to cater to some of Seattle’s most underserved senior citizens. This pilot project will make fresh, healthy foods accessible to seniors by bringing local produce straight from local farms to limited-access (low-income and/or home-bound) seniors through home-delivered and congregate meal programs. PSFN was funded by a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant through the Healthy Eating/Active Living (HEAL) Community Grant Program of City of Seattle-King County Public Health. As a project partner, PSFN will collaborate with Aging and Disability Services (ADS), Senior Services, Catholic Community Services (CCS), Chicken Soup Brigade, the King County Housing Authority (KCHA), and the WSDA on this exciting project. By arranging cooperative purchasing agreements among these partners and local food producers, the project will help ensure availability of fresh, nutritious, local produce to seniors while remaining within existing budgets of our meal-provider partners. If the project is successful, there is potential to apply the Farm to Table model we create to other institutions, such as low-income childcare centers.

Since notification of funding in July, PSFN has attended the first two Farm to Table Partnership meetings, working with project partners to identify preliminary challenges, brainstorm solutions, and begin an initial assessment process to evaluate readiness of meal-provider sites. PSFN has also attended the first CPPW Coalition meeting (a meeting of all the recipients of HEAL and Tobacco Prevention CPPW grants) to share resources and brainstorm techniques to address public heath challenges in our community.

With its CPPW funding, PSFN has hired two new, full-time staff people to work exclusively on the Farm to Table Partnership. Though PSFN is only one of many Farm to Table partners, PSFN’s new staff members are the only two members of the team who are 100% dedicated to the Farm to Table project. These two staff members will work together to do what PSFN does best: make the connections between local producers and food consumers! Karen Mauden, PSFN’s new Farm to Table Coordinator, will serve as a “benevolent broker,” identifying able producers, making introductions and creating relationships between producers and meal-provider sites, arranging purchases and cooperative purchasing agreements, and coordinating distribution and delivery of produce. Karen comes to PSFN with thirty-six years experience in managing purchasing systems and distribution networks. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Foods & Nutrition from Washington State University, owned her own foodservice brokerage for sixteen years, and is a co-owner of the Houser family dairy farm in Sedro Woolley. Her experience prepares her extraordinarily well for the business and agricultural sides of this Farm to Table project. Emma Brewster, PSFN’s new Farm to Community Coordinator, will provide support for Karen, helping to identify producers, assessing meal sites, tracking sales, and providing the administrative support for the project. Emma comes to us as an AmeriCorps Volunteer through Washington Service Corps’ SCORE AmeriCorps Team based in Mount Vernon. Emma holds a Bachelor of Science in Development Sociology from Cornell University, where she focused on the social aspects of rural agriculture and pubic health. Emma’s background working with social and human services and on public health projects gives her a good grounding in the social and health challenges this Farm to Table project aims to tackle.

Posted by Emma Brewster on November 3rd, 2010

Seattle WholeSale Market- Only 2 More Weeks!

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Only 2 Weeks Left. See our most current fresh sheet for product details and ordering

Visit PSFN and learn more about the pilot market and watch a short video of the Seattle WholeSale Market launch on Wednesday, September 15! http://www.psfn.org/seattle-market/

Posted by Lucy Norris on September 17th, 2010

Seattle WholeSale Market Press Release

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“The wholesale market at Whole Foods Market Interbay store offers a great opportunity for local producers to make new direct market connections with a variety of institutional buyers, from restaurants to school districts and hospitals.” Mary Embleton, Cascade Harvest Coalition.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lucy Norris; Puget Sound Food Network (PSFN), 360-336-3666

Calling all Buyers for Seattle WholeSale Market Pilot Beginning Wednesday, September 15

September 7, 2010 [Seattle, WA] – Local food producers are ready to sell their products to wholesale buyers in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Market Interbay store located at 2001 15th Avenue West in Seattle. This pilot market will be held three weeks consecutively on Wednesday mornings from 8:30-10:30 a.m., starting September 15th and ending September 29th.

A wholesale farmer market-as-distribution hub is not a new idea. This year PSFN partnered with Skagit Valley Food Coop to launch the Skagit WholeSale Market. “The market attracts buyers from all over Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and even San Juan County but we know Seattle area buyers want to participate but can’t because of the distance,” says Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager, “Whole Foods Market Interbay store parking lot is perfectly situated minutes from Seattle’s great food neighborhoods. Buyers who want a quick and easy collection site for wholesale volumes of local food will like this market, even if it only lasts three weeks.” “Supporting farmers and other artisan food producers has been a cornerstone of our business for 30 years. We are very pleased and excited to have the opportunity to partner with the Puget Sound Food Network to provide a new venue at our Interbay store for local farmers to connect with wholesale buyers in our community,” adds Denise Breyley, Whole Foods Market Pacific Northwest Local Forager.

PSFN gathered input from Cascade Harvest Coalition, Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, Seattle Farmers Market Association and Seattle Chefs Collaborative. “Creating new market opportunities helps address farm viability issues as well as increasing the availability of local food. Really a win-win for the community,” says Mary Embleton Executive Director, Cascade Harvest Coalition. Farmers Markets have long understood the important role their markets have in connecting Seattle chefs to local farmers. “We’re interested in this pilot as a way to better understand the local foods wholesale market and how we might continue to serve it,” says Chris Curtis, NFMA Executive Director.

Puget Sound Food Network members represent the bulk of nearly twenty vendors participating in the wholesale market pilot. This market will feature producers such as Willie Green’s Organic Farm, Full Circle Farm, Ninety Farms, Sherman’s Pioneer Farm Produce, Golden Glen Creamery, Hedlin Farm, Viva Farms, Lavender Wind Farm, Aldrich Farm, Twin Sisters Mushrooms, Hidden Meadow Ranch, and more!

Vendors will bring limited product volumes on the first week and then buyers are encouraged to preorder from weekly fresh sheets, and then pay and collect at the market site or request larger volumes for delivery. Vendors will manage invoicing and delivery options independently. Like the Skagit market, PSFN will distribute weekly fresh sheets that include contact information for each vendor, available products, wholesale prices where applicable, promotions and minimum quantities available. Buyers interested in participating in the Seattle Wholesale Market or the Skagit WholeSale Market are strongly encouraged to sign up for weekly product updates. All wholesale buyers are welcome. There is no fee to participate as a vendor or buyer.

Those interested in learning more or wish to participate as a Seattle WholeSale Market buyer or seller should contact Lucy Norris at info@psfn.org. The Puget Sound Food Network is a project of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center. NABC is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to farmland preservation by helping to make farming in the region more profitable. For more information about PSFN, visit www.psfn.org. Map and directions to the Whole Foods Market Interbay store are posted at http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/interbay.

Posted by Elliot on September 8th, 2010

Producers and Buyers Anticipate Skagit WholeSale Market Launch This Thursday Morning June 24th

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jodie Buller; Skagit Valley Food Co-op, (360-336-5087×136), or Lucy Norris; Puget Sound Food Network (PSFN), 360-336-3666

June 22, 2010 [Mount Vernon, WA] - Area food producers are preparing to sell their products to wholesale customers in the covered parking lot of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op on Thursday mornings from 8-10 a.m., starting this Thursday, June 24th, and will be there every week through harvest season, interest provided.

The weekly market is designed to help area buyers and sellers decrease time and fuel costs associated with collecting and delivering local food themselves,” says Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager. “The Skagit Valley Food Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network together identified an initial group of local vendors, now we need restaurants and food service buyers to show up.” Buyers can either preorder from the farm, and then pay and collect at the market site, or choose to pick up later. Each vendor will choose their own invoicing and delivery options. Impulse buys are expected and encouraged.

The Skagit WholeSale Market is grounded in the harvest of all-star Skagit organic producers like Hedlin Farm, Skagit River Ranch, Ralph’s Greenhouse, and Skagit Flats. Staples from Sakuma Bros, Twin Sisters Mushrooms, Hidden Meadow Ranch, Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy, and the newly formed Viva Farms will be complimented by delicacies from San Juan Pasta Company and Gothberg Farms. Seasonal appearances by other Skagit and PSFN member producers, and products from nearby and east of the mountains will appear throughout the season.

A collaboration between the Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network, it is the only grassroots business-to-business market of its kind in Northwest Washington.

Those interested in learning more or wish to participate as a Skagit WholeSale Market buyer or seller should contact Erin Treat at skagitcoop@gmail.com or visit PSFN at www.psfn.org. Map and directions to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op are posted at http://www.skagitfoodcoop.com/map.html.

For more background and information, please read our first press release from June 8th on our blog at http://psfn.org/blog/2010/06/seeking-buyers-for-the-skagit-wholesale-market-thursdays-starting-june-24th/, and follow All FOOD Considered, a blog created by Skagit Valley Food Coop.

Posted by Elliot on June 22nd, 2010

Seeking Buyers for the Skagit WholeSale Market Thursdays starting June 24th

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“This project is the result of local food stakeholders banding together to re-assemble and re-integrate a food system by returning to an older way of doing business. We’re not re-inventing the wheel, but putting the spokes back together – and re-using it. We are starting small but we need to start something.” Jodie Buller, Skagit Coop

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jodie Buller; Skagit Valley Co-op, (360-336-5087×136), or Lucy Norris; Puget Sound Food Network (PSFN), 360-336-3666

June 8, 2010 [Mount Vernon, WA] – Local food producers are ready to sell their products to wholesale buyers in the covered parking lot of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op on Thursday mornings from 8-10 a.m., starting Thursday, June 24th, and will be there every Thursday through harvest season, interest provided.

This weekly market site will help buyers and sellers reduce the time and fuel costs associated with direct marketing of quality, local food products,” say Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager. “The Skagit Valley Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network identified an initial group of local vendors, now we need to energize restaurant and food service buyers, and other food retailers to step up to the plate, so to speak.” Buyers will have some options. They can preorder from a farm, and then pay and collect at the market site, or choose to pick up later. There will be limited invoicing and delivery available. “We’re encouraging producers to provide tasting samples, so we believe impulse buys will be commonplace, too,” says Skagit Food Co-op’s Erin Treat. Weekly “fresh sheets” are available for those who sign up for market email updates.

“The Skagit WholeSale Market is a way for us to help foster face-to-face, triple bottom line business practices,” according to Jodie Buller, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator at the Skagit Food Co-op. A collaboration between the Co-op and Puget Sound Food Network, it is the only grassroots business-to-business market of its kind in Northwest Washington. “The Market will provide a personal way for the many faces of our foodshed to source wholesale volumes from many Skagit Valley producers, in the same place at the same time.”

The Skagit WholeSale Market is grounded in the harvest of all-star Skagit organic producers like Hedlin Farm, Skagit River Ranch, Ralph’s Greenhouse, Skagit Flats, the newly formed Viva Farms, rounded out with staples from Sakuma Bros, Twin Sisters Mushrooms, San Juan Pasta Company, Hidden Meadow Ranch, Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy, Gothberg Farms, as well as seasonal appearances from smaller growers and orchards nearby and east of the mountains.

Those interested in learning more or wish to participate as a Skagit WholeSale Market buyer or seller should contact Erin Treat at skagitcoop@gmail.com. Map and directions to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op are posted at http://www.skagitfoodcoop.com/map.html.

Posted by Lucy Norris on June 9th, 2010

Food Depot

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Trying to put together the various supply chain studies and work being done in the region is a large task, and it is one that is fundamental to this developing network. There is work being done to develop regional food processing, identify cold storage, and integrate distribution options.

Does this mean a coordinated space(s), a food depot? Perhaps. We are primarily wanting to utilize existing resources wherever possible, especially from our regional partners.

Posted by nabctim on December 16th, 2008