(Home) Delivering on Local Food’s Promise
Options for home delivery of locally produced food have expanded greatly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic almost two years ago. WhatsGood, a Rhode Island-based company that has been active in the Chicago market since 2018, was a bit ahead of this curve. That positioned them to be a lifeline for Green City Market and other area farmers markets, enabling their vendors to sell products direct to consumers during the delayed opening of the 2020 outdoor season, and beyond.
Now WhatsGood is piloting a major expansion in Chicago, opening Farm Shop, its first brick-and-mortar local food store, at 1712 N. Halsted St. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, supplemented with an option that promises one-hour home delivery.
Matt Tortora and wife Erin Tortora launched WhatsGood in 2014. Erin brought in an expertise in logistics and operations from her past career as a U.S. Navy officer. Both attended Johnson and Wales University in North Kingstown, Rhode Island — Matt (also a Navy veteran) focused on culinary arts and food service management, while Erin received her MBA focused on the hospitality industry.
Matt developed an intense interest in using locally produced ingredients when he worked as a chef, and also learned about the difficulties that farmer/producers had connecting with restaurateurs/buyers. WhatsGood was originally founded as a business-to-business technology platform to facilitate these relationships, then evolved into a direct-to-consumer home delivery service for farmers, working mainly through farmers markets.
Only a few farms and outlets — such as the pioneering Fresh Picks in Niles, Illinois — were doing local food delivery prior to the COVID disruption. And WhatsGood’s Chicago presence was very low-key at first. I admitted to Matt when I interviewed him just before the holidays that I’d never heard of the company before March 2020.
But the sudden onset of the pandemic slammed the door on the end of the indoor winter farmers market season and created uncertain prospects for an outdoor season. Green City and a few other markets pivoted speedily to sell through WhatsGood. Several farms — such as Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois), Three Sisters Garden (Kankakee, Illinois) and Avrom Farm (Ripon, Wisconsin) — either initiated or amped up their own home delivery options; Village Farmstand in Evanston also emerged to provide home delivery of locally farmed food.
The fact that WhatsGood has continued to work with farmers markets even after they were allowed to reopen appears to underscore the main principals behind the company’s business model: that more consumers would buy more local food if it was more convenient, and that farmers would increase their production if they could reach more buyers.
Unlike a number of big cities, Chicago has no year-round, indoor farmers markets. The number of individual farmers markets has proliferated over the past couple of decades and many have built avid followings. But most are open only once a week and few people (besides a certain local food newsletter publisher) go out of their way to visit multiple markets in a week.
“If we were to have opened Farm Shop with the same frequency and operating hours as Green City Market and tried to be competitive in the grocery game, it's not hard to conceive how much of a disadvantage you would be at,” Matt said. “People are busy, you've got many reasons why people don't make it to the market ritualistically. It can’t become part of the ritual because it's not open often enough that it can happen.”
He continued, “Even before the pandemic, for every one person who went to the farmers market, we found that there were at least 10 others out of 100 people in that community that wanted it, wanted to buy it, but didn't get to the market... When you go to the Saturday and the Wednesday [Green City] markets, you will see a very small number of people who are there both days. You'll see a larger number of people that are there on one or the other. Then if you go out into the Lincoln Park Zoo or anywhere else, you'll see a much greater number of people that are there but are not going to the market at all.”
Convenience is also a factor for farmers who see opportunity in the 24/7 e-commerce/home delivery option. Matt noted that the number of farmers markets nationally increased by five times between 2002 and 2018, but individual farms that expanded to sell at multiple markets incurred greater expenses while not necessarily enjoying commensurate gains in sales. “It's a higher cost of sales,” Matt said. “Now you're schlepping, you've got to get a couple of extra people, bring these tables, pop-up tents. Get down to the farmers market to sell and do it all again every week.”
One outcome I’ve been anticipating since the rise of local food e-commerce is that more farmers will adopt season extension, producing more food year-round because their access to consumers “off-season” has greatly increased. Matt said that this is a trend that is already under way: “With the exposure to the demand, you see this really unbelievable opportunity. And you see the farmer see it too, building more hoop houses, building more greenhouses, realizing that all-year sales can happen.”
There is ample evidence that the pandemic has spurred rising consumer concerns about food and health, wellness, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, and to an unprecedented degree food security, as the conventional food supply chain has struggled with COVID-era dislocations. Yet while Matt is bullish about the potential growth in local food sales, he noted increased demand creates a need for more farmers producing for local markets.
“Farmers are making more money, and what you see is also a really good look at what we need to be careful about. You get a producer who doubles her egg production. Well, that's great because they can keep their same practices. But what happens when they have to double it again or again or again in order to keep up with demand. You don't ultimately want to take that one egg producer from 0 to 100 because we end back up in the [stuff] we're in today. The place we want to leave,” he said.
He added, “So what that really means is more producers. We need more people going into farming. We need more people to be able to build a sustainable business, a quality of life lifestyle within farming and food production. And the more that we see that, the more we see people going into farming.”
Reminder: Alliance Resilience Fund Apps are Open
About a month ago, I published a notice that farmers could apply for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance’s Resilience Fund grants starting December 15, 2021. This is a reminder that the application period is open until February 15.
The following information is provided by Illinois Stewardship Alliance.
________________
More cold storage, new hoop houses, new equipment — those were just a few of the investments farmers made last year with support from the Alliance’s Resilience Fund.
Those on-farm investments mean more local food available in communities across Illinois.
Now thanks to the generous support of the Chicago Region Food System Fund, the Alliance is proud to announce the return of the Resilience Fund.
Last year, the Resilience Fund awarded 27 local farms a total of $225,000 in grants. In all, 80 local food farmers applied for over $1 million in support, indicating an ongoing and unmet need for local food infrastructure development.
In the coming months, $175,000 will be awarded to local food producers for investment in critical infrastructure to increase the capacity and resiliency of our local food system.
Farms and farm collaborations will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $10,000. Illinois local food farmers are eligible and encouraged to apply.
The Resilience Fund application will close on February 15, 2022. Decisions are anticipated by April 1, 2022.
More information about the fund will be available soon. You can see the previous Resilience Fund awardees projects here.
On behalf of the Alliance Board, staff, and members, our thanks to the Chicago Region Food System Fund for this incredible opportunity to expand local food in Illinois.
Sincerely,
Liz M. Stelk
Executive Director
Clarification on Monday Article
Clarifying the article published Monday (January 3) titled Cultivate Brewpub Has Deep (Forbidden) Roots, Brian Krajack’s title with Cultivate is Director of Operations, not General Manager as published.
Happy New Year, Bob. Interestingly (well, a little...) I brought up the subject of market alternatives in and out of season in the Friends newsletter just before the end of 2021, and it's popping up again tomorrow. Respondents also mentioned the many vendors, like Katic Bakery and Kinnikinnick, who use order/pick-up scenarios to serve their market customers in the off-season. Not that there is an off-season anymore. River Valley has apparently ramped up their delivery service, although I haven't spoken to Eric recently.
Thanks for your persistent commitment to your publication, amigo. I'm in my final year of authorship after around 320 newsletters, a number you've surpassed in a year. I really appreciate the actual reporting that makes up most of your content. It's about time to re-up my membership, and it's money I'm very happy to spend.