Foster-Caviness is sourcing local Korean pears from Riverbirch Farm in Reidsville, NC.
October 2015 — North Carolina-based produce distributor Foster-Caviness recently opened an aggregation center for local food in Raleigh. The cross-dock facility on Glenwood Avenue will be used to aggregate and distribute local produce and locally made value-added products. (See previous NCGT research on cross-docking as a logistics strategy for local foods.)
Benjamin Filippo, Foster-Caviness’ Director of Sustainability, is tasked with developing the center and growing its product inventory. To find local producers interested in accessing Foster-Caviness’ distribution network, he has been reaching out through NC Cooperative Extension’s Local Foods Flagship Program and NCDA’s Got to Be NC Marketing Initiative, engaging with incubator kitchens such as Blue Ridge Food Ventures, and attending events such as the statewide Farm to School Conference. Over the next few months, Filippo will be attending more events, including the upcoming NC Growing Together/NC 10% Campaign’s Grower-Buyer Mixer at Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference, and more regional Grower-Buyer meetings next spring.
One of the first local products that Foster-Caviness began distributing was Firsthand Foods meat, a connection which was made as a result of the NCGT partnership with both businesses. “We [have] had success with that,” says Filippo, “and now we want to build a full North Carolina product catalog.” So far, Foster-Caviness has signed on several new local produce growers as well as a handful of artisanal value-added producers, including Big Spoon Roasters (Durham, NC), Slingshot Coffee (Raleigh, NC), Nello’s Sauce (Raleigh, NC), and Goat Lady Dairy(Climax, NC). “A lot of these craft producers don’t have a distributor, and this gives them access to cold storage and distribution through Foster-Caviness’ network,” says Filippo. If the products do well in a pilot run, Foster-Caviness will offer them to all of their customers.
Filippo added, “Foster-Caviness is locally owned and family operated. We’re trying to position ourselves in a way that people understand what we’re doing and what we’re all about, and we’re trying to get that message out.” In addition to supplying fresh produce to restaurants, Foster-Caviness provides the majority of North Carolina public schools with fresh produce, as well as all of the North Carolina military bases.
For more information about Foster-Caviness’ local sourcing, please contact Benjamin Filippo at bfilippo@foster-caviness.com.
This article originally appeared in the October 2015 NC Growing Together Newsletter.