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There are vast quantities of publications that discuss the concepts of marketing, direct marketing, value added, and so on. That is not what you will find here. In this section, MISA has attempted to pull together a list of programs and websites that offer actual marketing services to farmers. Some of these are cooperatives or similar organizations that sell food on the farmers' behalf, some are membership organizations that offer marketing services, some are online or print directories, and some are searchable databases of food producers. Please let us know if we are missing a good marketing resource! misamail@umn.edu
Minnesota-based Services
Specialty Meat Marketing Services
Regional and National Services
Minnesota-based Services
Food and Farm Connection
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/foodfarm-main.html. The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) supports several different types of directories:
-- The Community Supported Agriculture directory of CSA farms
-- The Stewardship Food Network of farmers who are LSP members
-- Pride of the Prairie, a local food marketing program in western Minnesota.
-- St. Croix Valley Buy Fresh Buy Local, a new start-up program in eastern MN.
The Food and Farm Connection also includes links to several other directories and marketing resources. Contact Land Stewardship Project: 651-653-0618, lspwbl@landstewardshipproject.org.
Food Alliance Midwest. www.foodalliance.org. This program offers third-party certification of farmers' sustainable practices. Membership entitles farmers to use the Food Alliance Midwest logo on their products. The program also works to get farmers' certified products purchased by food distributors, food services, and grocery stores. Contact the Midwest office: 651-265-3682.
Homegrown Heartland Marketplace. www.homegrownheartlandmarketplace.org. This is an outgrowth of the Heartland Food Network, a group of restaurant chefs, caterers, and other food buyers who make a commitment to increase their use of local foods. Farmers are invited to register in the Marketplace to make their products available to these buyers. Farmers who register should have basic knowledge of food industry standards and be able to supply the quality and quantity of product needed by these buyers. Contact Kara Ferguson: 651-645-6159, ext 9; kferguson@mnproject.org.
Lake Superior Farm Products Directory
http://www.lakesuperiorfarming.org/FarmProductsDirectory.aspx. This is a project of the Lake Superior Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association. Members of that chapter are eligible to advertise in the directory, which covers approximately the northeast quarter of Minnesota as well as part of northwest Wisconsin. Contact David Hopkins: 218-393-3276, info@lakesuperiorfarming.org
Local Foods Partnership. www.localfoods.umn.edu. This directory covers the northwest, west, and central parts of Minnesota. It is a project of the Northwestern Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. Farmers supplying local food as well as other businesses using local food (restaurants, caterers, processors) can register for a free listing and web page. Contact Linda Kingery: 877-854-7737, kinge002@umn.edu.
Mill City General Store. This is an outgrowth of the Mill City Farmers' Market near downtown Minneapolis. Farmers who do not wish to maintain their own booth at the market can have the market managers sell their products at the General Store. Contact: Nick Schneider, 612-824-7588, ns.schneider@mac.com; or Aaron Reser, 612-716-6159, aaron.reser@gmail.com. More information.
Minnesota Grown. www.minnesotagrown.com. Housed in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, this marketing organization is open to all farmers who produce and sell food items in Minnesota. There is an annual license fee that entitles farmers to use the "Minnesota Grown" logo on their products, and free point-of-sale materials are available. An additional fee buys a listing in the print and online directories. Contact Brian Erickson: 651-201-6539, brian.j.erickson@state.mn.us.
Southeast Minnesota Food Network. southeastmnfoodnetwork.com/smfn/. This is a cooperative of farmers that serves as a one-stop ordering, billing, and delivery service. It facilitates marketing to restaurants, caterers, food services, schools, grocery stores, and other purchasers of wholesale food items in southeastern Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin, and the Twin Cities metro area. Contact Pam Benike: 507-251-9773, sales@southeastmnfoodnetwork.com.
Whole Farm Co-op. www.wholefarmcoop.com. This farmer cooperative is based in Long Prairie, MN and serves farmers in the central region of the state. Its focus is on marketing to individual consumers. It maintains a storefront in Long Prairie, offers online ordering of groceries, and delivers bulk orders to buying groups at a number of drop sites in the Twin Cities metro area. It also supplies some grocery stores. Contact the Whole Farm Co-op: 320-732-3023, info@wholefarmcoop.com.
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Specialty Meat Marketing Services
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Regional and National Services
Eat Wild http://www.eatwild.com/
E-Cooperatives http://ecoop.netsville.com
FoodRoutes Network http://www.foodroutes.org/
GreenPeople http://www.greenpeople.org/
National Database of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farms
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/csastate.htm
OFARM, Organic Farmers’ Agency for Relationship Marketing
http://www.ofarm.org/
Organic Buyers in the Upper Midwest
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/esap/organic/orgbuyers.pdf
Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative http://organicvalley.coop/
The Farm Locator http://www.newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php
Value Enhanced Grains (VEG) http://www.vegrains.org/
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