Regional Food Hubs
Food Hubs
In Kentucky, fewer than 10 entities were cataloged by USDA as food hubs, as of January 2017. However, many endeavors throughout the state display efforts that meet or move toward the definition of a food hub. It is helpful for farmers and food producers to understand that the term “food hub” is a general term referring to many different kinds of businesses and organizations that are all responding to meeting consumer demand for local foods. For example, not every agricultural cooperative will meet the definition of a food hub; some co-ops may only be wholesaling commodity crops or selling to one specific market channel. In addition, food hubs can include members that are not farmers, such as individuals or businesses involved in the aggregation and processing of food products.
Key Requirements
| Marketing Time Required | Medium |
| Required Product Volume | Medium |
| Potential Sales Volume | Medium |
| Price Per Item | Medium |
| Difficulty of getting into this market | Medium |
| Importance of Product Quality & Shelf-Life | High |
How do I get started in Food Hubs?
The first step will be identifying a food hub through which you can sell your product. Contacting that organization and verifying their interest in your product is the second step. In these conversations be prepared to ask questions about:
- Food Safety Certification Requirements
- Expected Volume
- Product Quality Expectations
- Delivery Frequency
- Payment processes
- Pricing
Challenges
- Producers transitioning from direct markets may struggle with volume and product quality expectations.
- Price per unit will be lower than direct markets.
- Depending on size of food hub, you may need larger transport/delivery vehicles than you currently own.
- Some food hubs rely on less stable funding sources in their early years so long-term survivability of the organization is not guaranteed.
Opportunities
- Food hubs generally allow for larger volumes of product sales even if prices per unit are lower.
- Marketing time may be less than other direct market approaches.
- Customer reach (including buyers like restaurants or other commercial accounts) will likely be larger.
- A producer may be able to focus on growing a small number of crops rather than the greater variety required by other market types.