Crops to Cuisine

"When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, and when local farmers hand you pineapple, mint and strawberries, you make a refreshing chilled fruit soup," says Chef Tom Stoner, owner of Spoons Soups & Salads in Fort Collins, Colo.

Stoner’s connection to local farmers is through Colorado Crop to Cuisine, a marketing and distribution organization developed at Colorado State University that sparks new relationships and generates enthusiasm for, and greater sales of, locally grown foods.

Connecting Northern Colorado farmers with the area’s chefs is one of several Colorado Crop to Cuisine marketing strategies developed to help small growers attract new customers. By providing chefs with bi-weekly deliveries of locally grown produce, Colorado Crop to Cuisine makes it easy for Stoner to handcraft soups and salads the way he likes. Instead of selecting recipes and then searching for the required ingredients, Stoner uses or creates recipes based on what the local market is providing.

He’s proud to promote this unique distribution network, and he makes a point of educating customers about how this relationship benefits customers and community agriculture. He explains in his newsletter, for example, that the less distance a food travels and the less time that passes between harvest and consumption, the more nutritious and flavorful the food.

Exploring new markets for small farmers

Could Northern Colorado’s abundant and popular farmers’ markets serve as a cornerstone for introducing diverse local foods into more of the area’s restaurants? That was the question Colorado State University agribusiness specialist Dawn Thilmany sought to answer in 2000 on behalf of the Colorado Department of Agriculture Marketing Division. The division’s board believed that developing a mutually beneficial relationship between chefs and growers could be a boon for small producers - and the state’s economy as well. Small farming is big business in Colorado: Producers earning under $100,000 in annual sales account for nearly 90 percent of the state’s farms.

Raised on a farm herself, Thilmany was eager to help growers become more profitable, and she saw this as an opportunity for the university to respond to an emerging market trend. She believed that if small producers invested more in marketing strategies, they would gain better control over their competitive position. A winning marketing plan includes a clearly defined customer base, and in this case, Thilmany believed that through farmers’ markets, producers could also expand sales to chefs of independent restaurants and consumers wishing to eat more healthfully while supporting local growers.

Creating demand among those customers, however, would require a different kind of marketing and distribution system.

“Large producers already have a super efficient distribution system in place, but this system makes it hard for smaller producers to compete on price,” Thilmany explains.

Dawn Thilmany

Her research suggested that, rather than competing head-to-head with the existing distribution system, an alternative system could succeed by focusing on other benefits, such as the quality, freshness and flavor of locally grown foods.

After her preliminary research proved promising, Thilmany received a $35,000 USDA Federal State Marketing Improvement Program grant to take the idea to the next step: developing a pilot marketing and distribution cooperative that would serve small and novelty producers. The project was named Colorado Crop to Cuisine.

Creating a competitive edge

Colorado Crop to Cuisine eliminates the need for packers and shippers, whose costs typically dip into small producers’ potential profits.

The project promotes three main messages about the products it distributes on behalf of member producers:

• The food is fresh and healthy.
• The food appeals to chefs who attract consumers who prefer dining at locally owned restaurants.
• The food appeals to people’s altruistic consciousness, providing them with a way to support local community efforts and environmentally conscientious farming and distribution methods.

“My job as a researcher was to figure out these messages, who we would target and how we would market to that audience,” says Thilmany.

Actively involving growers and their audience in the project by encouraging them to become members was one of the strategies she proposed. Membership allows growers to reach new markets while keeping packing and shipping costs to a minimum and provides chefs with direct access to the freshest foods available. Members also promote one another’s businesses and provide leadership and governance, voting on policies for Colorado Crop to Cuisine’s activities and operations.

Each year growers pay a nominal membership fee plus a small percentage of their Colorado Crop to Cuisine sales to have their foods delivered directly to chefs, freeing up growers’ time to focus on more lucrative farmers’ market sales. And chefs pay a small annual fee for a personal shopping service that offers them first dibs and door-to-door delivery of freshly picked foods.

Producer members are dedicated to growing high-quality, fresh, healthy foods with tender, loving care. Many grow specialty or novelty products and use organic-, pesticide-free- and/or sustainable-farming practices.

Sue Oberle, for example, a member since 2000 and owner of Oberle Botanical in Fort Collins, specializes in growing artisanal foods, including baby vegetables, culinary herbs, heirloom tomatoes and tomatillos. Susan and Duane Pope of Pope Farms offer 42 varieties of peppers as well as melons and a rich assortment of vegetables. On her one-acre farm, Quail Ridge’s Nancy Burns raises specialty cut flowers, perennials, herbs and vegetables. Other small producers provide organic fruits, eggs, and value-added products, such as bread crumbs, sauces, marinades, relishes and pickled vegetables.

From the field to the kitchen

Each Friday from April through November, producers submit their list of available crops to Katy Pepinsky, Colorado Crop to Cuisine operations manager. Pepinsky, who recently graduated from Colorado State with a master’s degree in extension education, compiles the list and e-mails or faxes it to member restaurants. Chefs place their orders, and twice during the following week, Pepinsky picks up the packaged orders from producers at the farmers’ market, then delivers them. Chefs are guaranteed that fruits and vegetables have been harvested within the past 24 hours. Often, they’ve been picked the same morning they’re delivered.

“It’s really nice to take the chefs a high quality product I feel proud of and know the chefs will be happy with,” says Pepinsky. “I’ve been doing this for two years, and I can’t recall ever receiving negative feedback.”

Indeed, the opposite is often the case. One July afternoon, when Tom Stoner received his order, he gushed over the colorful assortment of summer squash he’d received from Quail Ridge. Pepinsky relayed the message to owner Nancy Burns, who said, “Oh, you just made my day!”

Grower Sue Oberle says that having personal relationships with her customers encourages her to try harder, especially when those customers are people who truly appreciate every nuance of creating excellent food. “I feel so proud to have a good chef accept my products,” says Oberle. “When they ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh,’ it’s the icing on the cake.”

Thilmany has found that member producers tend to be more innovative, receptive to suggestions and customer-service oriented. “They’re people who’ve gotten frustrated with the capital intensity of large-scale farming and who want to focus more on value than on high volume,” she says. “At farmers’ markets, they take care to create attractive displays, educate consumers and suggest different uses for foods.

“They also respond to the chefs. Some will plant lettuce late in the season to meet the demand for fresh greens in the fall. One producer froze hot peppers harvested in the fall so he could make them available to chefs throughout the winter. They’re really open to changing their production methods to meet customers’ needs and wants. By working face-to-face with the consumer, they’re providing one-on-one education with each other.”

A beautiful match

Offering chefs a wide array of delicious homegrown foods also provides a competitive edge for those chefs appealing to diners who prefer the fresh, innovative menu choices often offered at locally owned restaurants.

To make consumers more aware of restaurants using local produce, Colorado Crop to Cuisine provides its member restaurants with “We Support Local Farmers” stickers to proudly display at their businesses. The distribution network also helps coordinate a Chef Walk at the farmers’ market, in which a member chef takes shoppers from booth to booth and suggests novel and tasty ways to use fresh produce in preparing meals.

Moreover, Colorado Crop to Cuisine promotes its members’ businesses through its Web site at www.geocities.com/colorado/crop, which contains information about all its members and links to their respective Web sites.

Producers and chefs have learned more about one another’s businesses since becoming members of Colorado Crop to Cuisine. Growers are more aware of the challenges chefs face in creating appealing menu selections at prices people are willing to pay, and chefs are more sympathetic to the challenges and variables farmers deal with from day to day.

Future growth

Colorado Crop to Cuisine ’s viability comes down to increasing the economic development potential for producers. In her first three years as a member, Sue Oberle saw her Crop to Cuisine sales more than triple, from $1,000 to $3,200 – income she wouldn’t have earned otherwise. Thilmany estimates that other members’ annual sales range from $250 to $13,000.

In 2004, Colorado Crop to Cuisine began offering consumers the Culinary Basket Program, featuring weekly deliveries of freshly picked fruits, vegetables, herbs, sometimes flowers and other local specialty items such as breads, pastas and relishes. “It’s like having a personal shopper at the farmers’ market,” Thilmany says. Baskets also contain recipes and educational information about Colorado Crop to Cuisine and its growers and products.

Thilmany, who serves as the organizational link to move the marketing organization forward, hopes to expand product offerings to include local meat products and hand-crafted cheeses. She’s also working with Pepinsky and group members to develop value-added products that will be available year round. All Occasions Catering Chef Paul Pelligrino, for example, created the recipe for Colorado Crop to Cuisine’s first bottled products: Pickled Eggplant, Marinated Jalapenos and Jazzberri Glaze, a sweet and spicy spread or marinade made with raspberries, honey, rosemary, garlic, red chili paste, balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard. These products are now jointly marketed by Paul’s Nita Crisp and Colorado Crop to Cuisine at Fort Collins markets.

“We’ve developed all of these from produce we’ll have a glut of in high season, to help producers sell more of their total yield and make products Colorado Crop to Cuisine can sell year round,” Thilmany says.

Capitalizing on the nationwide Farm-to-School movement also holds promise for getting local growers’ products into Northern Colorado schools. In spring 2005, the Windsor School District became a Colorado Crop to Cuisine member, followed by Loveland’s Thompson Valley School District. The Northern Colorado Food Policy Group, a Colorado Crop to Cuisine spin-off, has initiated discussions in the Fort Collins schools and began a trial program in one school during fall 2005.

Engaging Colorado Crop to Cuisine in Farm-to-School efforts presents another opportunity to further educate about food, nutrition and community agriculture. “We’ve been meeting with food and agricultural product groups statewide, and people are enthusiastic,” says Pepinsky. “If we can get into the schools, we have people who want to do the educational component.”

Thilmany makes Colorado Crop to Cuisine presentations nationwide and has incorporated lessons learned from the organization into her agribusiness classes. In addition, the project has created professional development opportunities for three graduate students. In 2006, Thilmany anticipates applying for a USDA Rural Development Value-added grant, if the marketing potential for the value-added products seems great enough.

The feasibility of growing Colorado Crop to Cuisine in these various ways hinges on numerous factors, not least of which is nurturing relationships, which is at the very heart of the organization.

“What we’ve really done has been to make the connections and raise the social capital of the local food community,” Thilmany says. “Many would say that Colorado Crop to Cuisine is a pivotal part of connecting almost all those interested in local food and agriculture.”

This article by Kathy Hayes was originally published in the 2006-2007 calendar published by the Office of the Vice President for Research. For more stories about research at the university, visit the Web at vpr.colostate.edu or call Marty Welsch at 491-4036.