FreshPoint’s Chris Woodring giving producers a tour of the warehouse.

March 2017 — FreshPoint, in partnership with NC Growing Together and NC Cooperative Extension, hosted two informational sessions for interested growers on February 21 in Raleigh and February 23 in Charlotte. Attendance was capped at 15 producers per site to allow growers plenty of opportunities to speak one-on-one with buyers.

The tours attracted 36 produce and dairy farmers from across the state (see map below). NCGT and NC Cooperative Extension assisted in organizing the sessions, recruiting and vetting producers who met the distributor’s requirements, including GAP certification (or willingness to become GAP-certified) and general liability insurance.

Map shows the geographical location of farmers who attended the open houses.

Robin Smith of NCGT partner TRACTOR attended the Raleigh meeting. She had already talked with FreshPoint buyers and filled out their paperwork, and says that the meeting “solidified the initial contact and helped in getting to the final step of talking about specific products and quantities for delivery to their warehouse”.  She appreciated the time that FreshPoint took in giving growers a tour of their warehouse and talking one-on-one with each of them.  “FreshPoint really showed their commitment to working with local farmers,” she says.

Chris Woodring, General Manager of FreshPoint Raleigh, was happy with the sessions as well.  “We are all working towards the same goal and that is to increase the amount of food grown and consumed in North Carolina by North Carolina growers. Each of us plays a part in that process and understanding each other’s role as well as any challenges that each of us face, will allow for us to be better connected and realize the synergies that we may have otherwise overlooked.”

Fresh produce or dairy/cheese producers interested in distributing through FreshPoint can get on the mailing list for future warehouse information sessions by emailing NCGT Project Manager Rebecca Dunning at  rebecca_dunning@ncsu.edu . Producers interested in connecting directly to FreshPoint can review the company’s new vendor inquiry packet  on the NCGT website.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 NC Growing Together Newsletter.