Small farms in eastern pennsylvania struggle to accurately forecast their output, identify consistent sales outlets, and bring their products to market in an efficient manner

Given the overhead transportation costs associated with reaching larger markets, many small farms are limited in where they can sell their products. Weak forecasting and unpredictable weather leave farmers scrambling to sell crops before they spoil-often to large wholesale markets that pay them just above the cost of production. Local food hubs have grown out of this need, though they struggle to work with large numbers of local farmers, maintain and grow multiple sales channels, and promote local products effectively. Food hubs often incur exorbitant costs to manage a large number of small farms, and they struggle to manage and promote mixed retail and wholesale sales channels that would benefit producers financially. Also, their operational systems do not integrate with one another, creating unnecessary administrative costs. The purpose of this project is to increase supply chain efficiency in order to positively impact 75-plus local and regional producers by: establishing forecasting systems with anticipated demand schedules. Creating better systems for recording and distributing farmer availability. Establishing shared aggregation and transportation systems on the demand side, this project will: expand retail sales through an ecommerce platform expand website to manage retail and wholesale sales channels and associated inventory systems expand existing website to increase efficiency of sourcing, packing, and delivering products in order to decrease prices for consumers while maintaining profitability