Project Title: Wisconsin Home Harvest  Round 3 (2005)

Project Leader (s):  Paul Dietmann, Sauk County Ag Extension agent

Project Collaborators: Jay Salinas- network coordinator, Galena Marketing (Mary Hasheider), Growers: Ron Bula, Jane Stevens, Jay Salinas, Dave Kosak, John Kinsman, Trisha and Dick Denker, Cedar Grove Cheese

Situation:  Wisconsin Home Harvest (WHH) is a new Sauk County grower’s co-op that seeks to develop a marketing strategy to take advantage of the growing demand for locally grown, sustainably raised vegetables, fruit, meat and value-added products. The proximity and rapid growth of the Wisconsin Dells offers a unique opportunity for local farmers and growers to gain access to a discerning tourist population filling area restaurants and hotels. These tourists often come from urban areas in Illinois and Minnesota where there is an awareness of, and demand for high-quality food. This is indicated by an increasing number of “high-end” restaurants offering a quality dining experience as opposed to an emphasis on “value” characterizing a number of the older establishments. A luxury spa has recently opened featuring organic food, there are several vegetarian restaurants, and a number of long-time Dells institutions have sought out locally produced food. This initial project will include promoting the existing and potential market opportunities and identifying supply potential as well as providing a forum to promote direct selling to restaurants in a collaborative, coordinated way.

Some members of Wisconsin Home Harvest have already established relationships with several of these restaurants. There is agreement that all would benefit by working though a grower directed co-op. The potential for a significant market is there. One of the largest impediments to buying locally, cited by restaurant and institution representatives, is the inefficiency and uncertainty of dealing with a variety of individual producers. WHH would streamline the process of ordering and receiving diverse products for the client who would then be more likely to order regularly.

The markets targeted will be local restaurants (with an emphasis on Wisconsin Dells), grocery stores and eventually institutions such as schools and hospitals. There will also be a direct market to individuals through a CSA style “Market Basket.”

Since Sauk County is a rural area, food grown here has a direct impact on not only the bottom line of the growers, but on the pride and identity of its residents. The nature of the project is to gather a variety of products from small farms. In providing larger profits to smaller growers we keep the agricultural identity and scenic beauty that has made Sauk County, according to Feb. issue of Progressive Farmer Magazine, one of the top 10 best rural places in America to live.

Response:  The primary duties of the coordinator will be to serve as the key person to organize the alliance of Sauk County growers, implement a marketing strategy and cultivate a stable list of WI Dells based restaurant clients. He will do this by performing the following:

• Meet with restaurant owners and chefs to establish their needs
• Formalize the relationship with clients and offer regular deliveries
• Conduct monthly meetings of WHH growers
• Work with Galena to develop a brand and comprehensive marketing strategy
• Educate growers about the needs of high end restaurants
• Educate consumers about the desirability of locally-grown food
• Work to increase pool of local growers and products
• Standardize procedures: ordering, packing, invoicing
• Publicize the efforts through press releases and special events
• Conduct evaluations with participants and customers
• Create a job description for and with the input of members, select a Market Manager
• Promote the concept of sustainable agriculture throughout the county
• Work to integrate WHH into the larger food security movement
• Share results at conferences, service organizations
• Develop and implement education and outreach program outlining the benefits of a local food system

Marketing Consultant:  Galena LLC

• Galena will assist in developing marketing strategies by identifying and defining stakeholder interests and market opportunities. This includes writing a communication and education outreach proposal, which details strategies for creating awareness of the Wisconsin Home Harvest program, and provides recommendations for educational products and media outreach.

Results:  Local farmers have benefited by the chance to market and sell their products as the Wisconsin Home Harvest (WHH) alliance provided them an avenue to heighten visibility of their products, increase their incomes, and provide more stable marketing venues.  The public has benefited by having access to farm-fresh food in a highly commercial, for-profit market setting (primarily the Wisconsin Dells).

In April, 2005 a meeting was held with a small group of growers who were interested in marketing through WHH.  It should be mentioned that the project was initially started in 2004 but, due to serious health challenges experienced by the person who was serving as manager, WHH was inactive in its first year.  Their experience with WHH’s first year caused some growers to adopt a wait-and-see approach to continuing their participation in the second season.  One of the original WHH growers, Jay Salinas, agreed to serve as manager in 2005 to help launch the effort.

At the April meeting it was decided that a group of two-three representatives from WHH would meet with chefs at restaurants in the WI Dells to discuss their needs and their concerns about purchasing through a source other than their traditional purveyors.  The group received invaluable assistance with this phase of the project from Kathy Zowin, a Sauk County Board Supervisor and co-owner of a business in the Dells, who contacted a number of restaurant owners and compiled a list of those who expressed a possible interest in buying from WHH.  Jay Salinas, Mary Hasheider, and Paul Dietmann met with the chef at Sundara Spa and one of the co-owners of the House of Embers; Jay and Mary met with the owners of the High Rock Café.  The chefs’ concerns varied but all indicated an interest in purchasing from local growers.  (Notes from these meetings were summarized by Mary Hasheider and will be included in the publication that is intended to be one of the outputs from this project.)

Another meeting was held with the growers to compile their crop lists and harvest schedules, and to determine product pricing.  Prices were set by the growers and WHH’s markup of 15% was added onto the growers’ prices.  The process for reporting each week’s product availability to the WHH manager was developed, but was refined over the course of the 2005 season.

WHH sales for 2005 will be approximately $5,000.  The largest customer was Sundara Spa, with other restaurants buying little or nothing.  The second largest customer was Java Café, a small restaurant on the courthouse square in Baraboo.  Java purchased a number of different products and also held a special dinner featuring locally grown foods, many sourced from WHH.  Another customer with great potential for future purchases is Milwaukee’s Rainbow Farmers Coop.  Rainbow purchased 1,000 pounds of potatoes from WHH and would have bought more produce had it been available.

A number of logistical goals were accomplished in 2005.  WHH was officially organized as a partnership and a tax ID number was established.  An account was opened, invoicing and payment procedures were developed, delivery schedules were established.

A press release will be issued to local press contacts summarizing the 2005 season and inviting interested growers to join WHH for the 2006 season.  Other plans for 2006 include the development of more promotional materials, expansion of the customer and grower base, and possibly the addition of a market basket similar to a CSA basket that would feature products from WHH growers.

The 2005 season exposed a number of market opportunities as well as many challenges for WHH.  These will be discussed in the forthcoming publication.