BUSINESS | MARKETING STRATEGY

Service Description

The team at Maine Farm and Sea Cooperative will work with your new or existing food business at any point along the food system: from growers looking for institutional markets to institution chefs seeking the best mix of local products to meet their budget. Our goal is to maximize the amounts of local foods in order to build a resilient Maine economy and reduce our dependence on far-removed industrial food. MFSC staff employ strategic thinking, investigation, and testing to improve your business or marketing plans. We incorporate your past experience with a menu of new alternatives that allow you to select the best way forward for your company. Our work with Feeding America and the Good Shepherd Food Bank is indicative of the work we perform. Many food banks request funds to process vegetables to extend their shelf life but there was no screening tool available for what processing at what scale could be viable. The Mainers Feeding Mainers program is a huge boost for local farms and food pantries around the state but what happens at the end of the storage crop season? MFSC analyzed sources and uses of food at GSFB; conducted customer surveys at the food pantries to determine customer desire for frozen vegetables and pantry capacity; and researched over 35 pieces of processing equipment and how they would work together in a small to medium sized processing operation. A Food Transformation Model was developed to account for multiple grades of incoming food, including gleaned, as well as multiple levels of labor quality, including volunteers. Additionally levels of output were formulated into the model. The model can help discern new business volume and products that could be feasible for processing. Nice survey that gets to the heart of the processed vegetables needs of our network – thanks! Looking forward to seeing the results! Kathy Helming, A pilot study was also completed as a proof of concept for processing vegetables into a number of frozen forms. These products were then taste tested in the pantries, at the GSFB facility and in commercial applications.

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