10 KEEP it simple


meats with the fact they made it easy for buyers. “They have really good communication and make their products really easy to buy in the sense of how they present themselves and how they price their products,” she said. “It makes it really straight-forward to build a relationship with them.” She encourages small producers to


provide clear information about what they’re offering, simple pricing, and make it easy to order, buy and obtain the product. The purchasing arrangement must also anticipate demand.


“Reach out and make that contact,”


she said. “If you wait for us to come to you, that may not always happen.”


Fostering relationships The partnership exemplified the


kind of relationship that Kevin Boon, general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association, said chefs need to foster. “You’re looking for quality, you’re


VFM Direct shuts down VFM Direct, a four-year-old online service that let restaurants order


from Vancouver farmers’ market vendors and collect produce on market days, has shut down. Your Local Farmers' Market Society, which runs farmers' markets in


Vancouver, ended the program October 15. More than 50 restaurants used the service, which was cited at the BC Association of Farmers Markets conference earlier this year as an example of how farmers' markets could evolve from being hubs for local vendors to community food hubs. Growers using the program included Glorious Organics, Klippers


Organics, Maan Farms and Taves Family Farms. Its loss was lamented at the province’s Every Chef Needs a Farmer


event on November 12. “They had the right idea,” said Rob Smith of Berrymobile Fruit Distribution Inc., praising the work VFM Direct had done to bridge the gap between producers and buyers. “They were really trying to be that bridge, and that I thought was the right track.” The markets society has not responded to a request for comment on the service’s demise, but finances are believed to have contributed to the decision


—Peter Mitham


looking for consistency, you’re looking to build a relationship,” he said, but encouraged buyers to research their options, too. “There’s several [ranchers] out there you need to get in touch with if that’s where you want to go.”


BC product might cost them a bit more versus


imported options, but it’s money well-spent as it’s reinvested in local farms and local communities. “Be willing to dig into your pocket a little more.


Come out and buy that product above the ones from New Zealand or South America, because you’re supporting your neighbour,” he said. “That’s what loyalty is about and that’s what we’re looking for.” But distribution challenges are a persistent issue.


The topic emerged during panel discussions at last year’s event, and a panel dedicated to the topic was convened this year. While ranchers like the L’Heureuxs are making


connections, logistical challenges abound in the Interior. The province is funding a food hub in Quesnel that could help address the issues, but more is needed. “There’s not any sort of centralized distribution or


centralized cold storage or those types of things for farmers,” Quarry said. “We have seen some farmers collectively help each other out with distribution. Lots of them have to drive over an hour to get the


INTRODUCING... The Next Leap Forward


TALK TO YOUR LOCAL DEALER TO LEARN MORE


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2019 nfrom pg 9


produce to us. But there’s a lot of work that has yet to be done.” The challenges stems partly from the


small size of the farms engaged in direct sales.


Scaling up production “This whole notion of the scale of


production is a really big issue,” noted Marleen Morris of the Community Development Institute at the University of Northern BC in Prince George. “A lot of producers haven’t had a big market to sell into, so they haven’t been able to develop a scale.” It’s an issue that’s dogged companies such as Coastline Markets Inc. of Vancouver, which has focused on developing a system to get BC seafood into the hands of chefs, most of whom want just-in-time delivery. “One of our key challenges has been


developing enough scale on the supply side to get the costs down to a point where it makes sense for the chef to want to buy local,” he said. “Most chefs want to order just enough, meet their demand, then order again.” Coastline has decided to focus on


buying salmon and tuna for poké restaurants, securing enough orders for these two items until volumes covered overhead costs and it could begin supplying more products. Vancouver-based Berrymobile Fruit Distribution


Inc. is working in the opposite direction, estimating crops and matching production with outlets so buyers can prepare for product. “They have a plan for it right away. That mitigates the storage issue a little bit,” he says. “When the production is about to start, we need to have all the end users ready to receive it.”


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