NCGT Monthly Project Update

In This Issue

NCGT Sponsors MBA Team Study of Locally-Sourced Bagged Frozen Produce

Apply Now for NCGT's 2015 Local Food Supply Chain Summer Apprenticeship

Lowes Foods Selling NC Eggs; Looking for More Producers

About NCGT

GOAL | Bring more locally-grown foods - produce, meat, dairy, and seafood - into mainstream retail and food service supply chains, thus enhancing food security by increasing access to local foods and by strengthening the economics of small to mid-sized farm and fishing operations.

STRATEGY | Identify the most promising solutions by which local production and associated value-added activities can enter local retail and food service markets, pilot these solutions in North Carolina, and evaluate and report the results for the benefit of other states and regions.

December 19, 2014

Greetings all,

Thanks for reading our monthly project update and please let us know what you think!

Sincerely,

The NCGT Management Team

NC Growing Together Sponsors MBA Team Study of Locally-Sourced Bagged Frozen Produce

NC Growing Together is sponsoring student teams at NC State Poole College of Management's Supply Chain Resource Cooperative and Consumer Innovation Consortium that are addressing pressing business and supply chain issues.

In the Spring 2014 semester, one of three sponsored teams examined a hot topic among North Carolina's food business entrepreneurs and food hubs: the potential costs and returns of transforming local produce into a bagged frozen version for sale in retail stores.

"Over the past year a number of hubs have brought up the idea of adding a frozen produce enterprise to their fresh produce aggregation and distribution operations, creating an additional income stream and helping to preserve their brand identity in retail stores over the winter months," says NCGT Project and Research Director Rebecca Dunning. "Having an MBA team available to collect data and do the analysis with our food hub partners has been ideal."

"We have the capacity to blast freeze and have tried it on a limited basis, but without a detailed analysis of the costs and potential returns, we were hesitant to go in that direction. Now we are equipped to make a decision for next season," added Leslie Hossfeld, Executive Director of Feast Down East food hub in Burgaw, NC.

The team's Powerpoint summary and cost/return analysis spreadsheets from Feast Down East and Pilot Mountain Pride -- which can be adapted for use by other ventures -- can be found on the Research page of the NC Growing Together website.

For information on additional NCGT partner/MBA research team collaborations, please contact NCGT Project and Research Director Rebecca Dunning.

Apply Now for NCGT's 2015 Local Food Supply Chain Summer Apprenticeships

NCGT is proud to announce the Summer 2015 Local Food Supply Chain Apprenticeship. Through an exciting 8-week program, apprentices will have the opportunity to work with a local food hub, a businesses, or an organization that works with local food while gaining critical training and professional development related to local food systems and value chains work.

Apprentices will dedicate 40 hours per week for an 8-week period with one of the six mentoring organizations. Each organization is looking for specific skills but overall, apprentices should have an interest in local food systems and agriculture and have some experience in agriculture, business, or related fields.

For more detailed information, please visit the NCGT website or contact Graham Givens. The application deadline is February 6, 2015.

Lowes Foods Selling NC Eggs; Looking for More Producers

Over the past two years, NCGT and Lowes Foods have worked in partnership to connect producers and store managers to bring more authentically homegrown North Carolina products into Lowes Foods stores. Now the company is adding eggs to the mix.

Demand has varied across the five stores that piloted the first direct-store-delivery of local eggs, says Krista Morgan, Lowes Foods Locally Grown Accounts Representative and NCGT Lowes Foods Liaison. "Typically, local eggs have a higher sale price, but for stores with a particular customer mix, they sell like crazy," she says.

Lowes Foods is looking to connect with egg producers around the state who are able to provide farm fresh eggs directly to one or more Lowes Foods stores. For more information, contact Krista Morgan at krista.morgan@lowesfoods.com or 919-802-2820.

Project Contact Information

Rebecca Dunning, NCGT Project and Research Director, rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu, 919-389-2220

Nancy Creamer, Director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC State University; and Project Director, NC Growing Together, nancy_creamer@ncsu.edu, 919-515-9447

Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, NCGT Academic Coordinator, michelle_schroeder@ncsu.edu, 919-513-0085

Joanna Lelekacs, NCGT Extension and Training Coordinator, joanna_lelekacs@ncsu.edu, 919-244-5269

John Day, NCGT Military Partnership Coordinator, john_day@ncsu.edu, 704-785-6670

Krista Morgan, Locally Grown Accounts Representative, Lowes Foods; and Lowes Foods Liaison, NC Growing Together, krista_morgan@lowesfoods.com, 336-775-3218 ext. 53218

Patricia Tripp, NCGT Wholesaler Liaison, patriciatripp1@gmail.com, 336-458-6980

JJ Richardson, NCGT Website and Communications Coordinator, jj_richardson@ncsu.edu, 919-889-8219

This project is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant no. 2013-68004-20363 of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

� 2013-2014 NC Growing Together