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Mark & Laurie of Local Flavor

Farm Buyers Club Sells Rappahannock County Farm Fresh Foods Direct to Consumer

If you can’t make it to  a farmers market, how does one deal directly with local farms? Some enterprising young people have found a way to bridge the distance between small farmers and their nearby communities. Since more people are interested in building a sustainable future for our food supply, The Local Flavor is one green business idea with potential. What began as the farm buying club for a single farm, Mount Vernon Farm, is now trading as Local Flavor and representing a number of small farms and artisanal producers. 

The owners, Mark Reinhardt and Laurie Smith invested in a refrigerated van, designed a cool logo, built a beautiful website and now serve the local market by bringing organic and low spray conventional food grown on multiple family farms to discerning consumers around the state. “This is the most rewarding endeavor Mark and I have ever been a part of,” enthused Laurie when I spoke with her on the phone today.

GOOD PRESS BRINGS MORE SUCCESS

The Local Flavor was profiled in the Piedmont regions’ Flavor magazine and was recently featured in the food section of the Washington Post in an article by reporter, Emma Brown.

Laurie and Mark say the response has been incredible. According to Laurie, the buying club orders for their most recent drop in Northern Virginia doubled as a result of the Post article, from 35 to 70. To meet the surge in growth, they enlisted the help of a college intern working with the Piedmont Environmental Council. Now they are having to split the Northern Virginia drop schedule into two days, to handle the extra clientele.

Here is the Post article that sparked the surge of growth:

The Haul That Helps the Small–New Ventures Truck Farms’ Online Orders to Town

In addition to an influx of new consumers to the club, two new drop sites came on as a result of the article, with 6-7 other possible drops in the works. They also have received a call from a local business with 5 locations who called to offer any or all  of their locations as Local Flavor drop sites. National Realty of Reston was the first business to serve as a drop site, and is one of the most successful. The reporters for both publications visited a National Realty drop to interview farm club buyers as part of her research. Now, half of the Local Flavor drop sites are at someone’s home, the other half are hosted by businesses.

Here is a list of their current Virginia drop locations and times.

Now, Laurie and Mark’s big challenge is to add more farms into the mix. Fortunately, also as a result of the Post article, 15 farmers have approached them to express interest in their distribution services.

HOW IT WORKS

Local Flavor Refrigerated Truck

Laurie says, “We now have 1000 families on our email list! To find out when we are coming and what products are available, it is best to put your name on the email list and you do that on our website, farmbuyersclub.com.”

There is no cost to join the club and no minimum orders.  Prompted by an email, member’s place their order and specify their drop site online. Then, an estimated total is given by the automated order form (actual total may vary based on the finished weight of your meat order). Buyers show up at their drop site at the appointed time, to meet the truck. It is best to bring a blank check and a cooler to take your order home.

Orders are subject to a $4.95 flat delivery fee.

Laurie explains, “The delivery fee is the main way Mark and I are compensated for our services. Rather than a sliding scale, we chose a flat fee, so to encourage people to plan ahead and place larger orders. The behind the scenes work that we do, handling administrative details, maintaining the website, coordinating with farmers, picking up the food, packaging orders, handling inquiries, and recruiting farmers, is hard work. For every delivery day, there are 4-5 days of back end work that our customers don’t see. The delivery fee is what makes this a viable business model.”

FOOD SAFETY BILL POSES A THREAT TO THIS BOOMING SMALL BUSINESS

When I asked Laurie if she felt the food safety bill HR2749 might pose a problem for her new business, she said, “It definitely has the potential to hurt us and our farmers. Our business may be dead in the water if this bill goes through. Most of our farms are start up farms or people who are getting into farming after retirement. The more rules and regulations and possible fines the government burdens small farms with, the harder it will be to make a living farming. How many hurdles will a small farmer have to jump before they just give up?”

Hartke is Online! readers, please let your Senator know that you are not in favor of a heavier regulatory burden being placed on small farms. Send this article to them to show them the kind of small business that will be hurt by more government control.