September 2017 — For the third year in a row, NC Growing Together and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) will be hosting a Grower-Buyer Meet-up at CFSA’s annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference.  The Meet-up provides a forum for growers and buyers to meet face-to-face in a “speed-networking” format to get to know each other and hopefully make a lasting business connection.

Two different meeting areas are designated: one for produce growers who are GAP-certified; and one for non-GAP-certified produce growers as well as producers of other raw or manufactured foods (like fresh meats, cured meats, jams, salsas, etc.).

Each year, the event has grown larger.  Buyers who attended the event in 2016 include Wegmans, Lowes Foods, FreshPoint, Foster-Caviness, Deep Roots Market, Durham Food Co-op, and Wake County Schools, among others.

Tanya Rouse of Rouse Family Farms has attended every year.  ” I enjoy them because it is a great opportunity to meet face-to-face with the buyers.  We have made some great contacts, and have picked up New Sprout and The Produce Box as new buyers.  These events give you a chance to build a relationship, and if you can establish a relationship, you really can have a breakthrough,” she says.

Tenita Solanto of Green Panda Farms in Siler City, NC, attended for the first time in 2016 and made business connections that allowed her to expand production.  “I had a great time at the grower buyer meeting and I made connections that put my micro-greens in new markets.  The setting was casual but super effective in getting the job done,” she says.

The Grower-Buyer Meet-up will be held on Friday November 3, from 5:15 – 6:15 pm at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham, NC as part of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference .  The event is free and you do not need to attend the CFSA conference to participate, but you must register in advance.  For more information and to register, please visit: https://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/grower-buyer-meet-up/.

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