The northeast organic farming association of vermont (nofa-VT), in partnership with vermont way foods (VWF) and food connects (FC), proposes to grow and develop markets for vermonts organic…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) awarded a $2,035,669 Organic Market Development Grant (CFDA 10.188) to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) on January 30, 2024. The purpose of the grant is to expand access to Northeast retail markets for Vermont's organic producers, develop new organic dairy, maple, and wholesale products under the Vermont Way Foods brand, and increase consumer awareness of locally produced organic food.

Key activities under this grant include: 1) Expanding organic processing capacity and developing new organic products for sale to large retailers and wholesale buyers in the Northeast, 2) Marketing and promoting Vermont organic foods to increase consumer demand, and 3) Increasing the percentage of organic products sold through the Food Connects food hub from 25% to 33%. NOFA-VT is partnering with Vermont Way Foods and Food Connects to implement this project over a 3-year period.

The northeast organic farming association of vermont (nofa-VT), in partnership with vermont way foods (VWF) and food connects (FC), proposes to grow and develop markets for vermonts organic producers in three ways. First, by expanding access to promising identified markets throughout the northeast by developing sales channels to large retailers and other wholesale buyers with consumer bases that are validated by market research to value and support the qualities inherent in vermont organic food. Second, by developing new dairy, maple, and other vermont organic wholesale products to be branded and marketed under the VWF brand and distributed regionally by FC. And third, by increasing consumer awareness and demand for organic food through targeted marketing and promotions in vermont and throughout the northeast. Key outcomes include: new and expanded wholesale markets for vermont organic producers, including an overall increase in the percentage of organic products sold through the food connects food hub from 25 to 33 , and over 3 million in sales of VWF organic products. Additionally, the project will result in increased awareness of and preference for locally produced organic food among regional consumers. Key initial beneficiaries of the project include up to 3 organic dairy producers, 1-2 organic dairy processors, 4 additional food hubs (certified organic handlers), and 4 organic maple producers. As VWF scales its production and increases sales capacity, we expect these initial producers to see increased sales to VWF, and ultimately, for VWF to onboard additional producers and processors. As of 2023, FC currently sells products from 15 organic producers, with a goal to increase to at least 20 during the project period. The core project team will consist of key staff from nofa-VT, FC, and VWF. Nofa-VT will lead overall project management and the consumer education and marketing activities. FC will lead and oversee organic supply chain development activities, and contribute to organic product procurement and sales activities. VWF will lead and oversee its product development activities, and contribute to sales and marketing activities within the project. The core project team will leverage support from additional collaborators including strategic marketing consultant(s) to deepen and align shared consumer marketing strategy, a graphic designer artist to to support asset creation for consumer marketing activities, and migrant justice, to support the coordination of milk with dignity certification of VWF dairy products which will engender consumer trust in the values-aligned brand.