Five things supermarkets and wholesalers can do today to meet the food movement halfway.
We believe that folks in the supermarket and wholesale food industry are great people, doing their best to supply us with abundant, safe food, while at the same time needing to satisfy owners and shareholders.  And we believe the industry cannot sell what it can't procure, nor sell what we don't demand.  So, let's be fair.  Lately, though, demand for authentic local organic food has skyrocketed, while supply has not.  Supermarkets and wholesalers can seize the opportunity to help grow the supply or they can either stand by doing nothing or actively confuse the consumer with misleading claims.  Let's do it right.  Here is our list of best practices.  Check it out.  Then check back to see how your favorite store or supplier is doing meeting these benchmarks.

​1.  Develop a written plan with measurable goals for steadily increasing the sales of locally-grown organic foods store- and company-wide.  Create internal policies and procedures to effectively handle these foods in stores and warehouses, including aggregation, shipping and receiving, and storage.

2.  Select a point person for locally-grown organic sales at the corporate level and at each store or facility, and inform farmers and consumers who that is.  Conduct periodic company-wide training of staff on the issues of local/organic procurement, handling and marketing.  Participate in buyer-grower meet-ups and other networking with local farmers.

3.  Provide sufficient and accurate labeling of locally-grown organic product in the store, in company-wide marketing and through strong supply-chain transparency.

4.  Work with local suppliers of organic, cage-free and pasture-raised meats, dairy and eggs to increase their presence in stores and in wholesale offerings.  Identify and address the special challenges and needs of these suppliers.

5.  Each year invest at least one day’s worth of North Carolina profits in food infrastructure projects such as shared-use processing facilities, food hubs, soil and plant research, young farmer training and incubators, GAPs and organic certification, and loan and grant programs for farmers and food business entrepreneurs.  At current sales and profit rates, this represents $1,000 per N.C. store (avg. size) for supermarket operators.

Let's connect with the industry.

Let's encourage existing good practices.

Let's support going in the right direction.