How We Support Indiana Local Food
Our food value chain professionals build:
Regional food supply chains from the farm to the institutional buyer
Support for farmers who are growing and producing the food we feed our communities
Regional and statewide networks of farmers, middle of supply chain businesses, and buyers
Buyer preference for local food through greater access and improved buyer experience
We support Indiana local food by:
Providing education and training on a variety of relevant topics
Measuring direct farm impact in several key areas
Creating a robust network of wholesale buyers
Supporting peer to peer learning and business to business relationships
Expanded access to locally grown and raised foods for vulnerable populations.
We support key stakeholders within the food value chain
Buyers
We work directly with food service directors, chefs, small grocery operators, and food bank buyers to source locally grown and raised foods from farms, food hubs, and distributors. We will sit down with you and learn more about your purchasing goals and work with you to figure out where to begin. Our networks and connections with farmers and food producers will help build lasting relationships and a steadier supply of local food.
If you are a seasoned buyer of local food, we can help with additional purchases, or increasing types of foods for your kitchen. We can also help quantify your economic impact on farms and food businesses whether you are purchasing local food from your distributor, food hub, or from local farmers. We can work with you to analyze your spending, celebrate your contribution to your community food economy, and build a strategy for more local procurement, if that is where you want to be.
We work with you to reach your local procurement goals.
Sellers
FARMWISE Indiana sees the “seller” as a farmer or food producer.
When you have food to sell to a wholesale buyer we want to be your first call. We have relationships and an understanding of what buyers in your region are interested in purchasing directly from the supplier, whether you are a farm, food artisan, or food hub. Who are these buyers? Schools, universities, pre-schools, hospitals, corporate cafeterias, event centers, caterers, grocers and more. From rural to urban, every community has wholesale buyers who may be your next sale.
You may have extra, you may want to build out an enterprise for your farm or food business and we can support that.
Not sure what you need to do to enter the wholesale market? FARMWISE Indiana can help guide you to the resources, agencies, and regulatory pathways for different foods. If we don’t know the answer, we will work to find out! Wanting to scale up or branch out? Contact us to make a plan for wholesale sales to regional buyers.
Middle of Supply Chain Partners
Middle-of-supply-chain businesses that support farmers and food producers in geographic regions of Indiana provide critical infrastructure for creating viable market channels that include direct-to consumer sales as well as sales to institutional and wholesale buyers such as restaurants, small grocers, schools, universities, and corporate cafeterias.
Knowing where other food businesses are that are oriented toward regional food systems is key to forming partnerships and to creating a more collaborative space rather than a competitive arena. As our network of statewide value chain professionals support the opening of wholesale buyer market opportunities, it is important that middle-of-supply-chain businesses feel they can participate and expand their outlook for sales.
What are middle-of-supply-chain businesses?
Food hubs, mills, processors, co-packers, storage, and transport businesses — all help coordinate food from farm to buyer and are critical infrastructure for regional, wholesale, and food supply-chains. These aggregators and coordinators provide people and transactional services to the suppliers they work with and the buyer marketplace.
Support Actors
Lots of organizations and individuals are strong supporters of regional food systems. From technical service agencies from the federal and state governments and Extension services, to the municipalities, and nonprofits working to rebuild regional food supply chains, support actors are critical connectors in regional food networks.
FARMWISE Indiana works with these agencies who are not part of the buying and selling of food, but who provide critical information and support for the farmers, food producers, middle of supply chain businesses, and buyers of Indiana. We provide connections, create networks, and build trust among partners who share a common goal of supporting regional food systems.
Support actors provide services and education for important topics including food production, regulation, and safety; personal and community health and wellbeing; funding for community projects; financing and lending; B2B and business development, and network development. If you are supporting regional food economies in some way, reach out and connect with us!
