Food Systems Program Update

Editor’s note: As part of our Food Systems Program, PFI staff are working with several organizations on a project titled “Expanding Local Food Systems through Direct Marketing to Iowa Institutions,” which is funded in part by a grant from the USDA Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP). One partner in this project is the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF), which makes an effort to serve foods from Iowa farmers at the cafeteria in its West Des Moines headquarter. The following story is reprinted from the March 24, 2001 Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman with permission from IFBF.

Iowa Growers Cater to Institutional Cafeterias

Teresa Halvorsen

Iowa farmers who grow fruits and vegetables have traditionally relied on two methods to sell their produce: setting up a stand at a local farmers market or delivering to the customer’s front door. But a new market for Iowa produce is beginning to develop and shows great potential for growth. It’s the institutional market, which includes school, hospital and corporate cafeterias.

The Iowa Farm Bureau headquarters in Des Moines houses a dining area that serves more than 400 employees and guests daily. Last year, the Farm Bureau cafeteria served 46 cases of asparagus, 48 cases of melons, 86 cases of strawberries, 1,000 pounds of beef and 120 pounds of pork chops – all which were raised in Iowa. And those items represent just the top of a long list of Iowa-grown foods that the cafeteria purchases.

The Farm Bureau dining area has served Iowa-grown foods since it first kicked off the state’s “A Taste of Iowa” program back in 1999. The label, “A Taste of Iowa”, is given to foods that are at least 51 percent grown or processed in Iowa, “You do have to take the extra time to tell people, ’Here’s something locally grown.’ But if it is marketing right, our guest count goes up,” says Tom Singer with Sodexho Marriott Services, the catering business that prepares and purchases food for Farm Bureau.

The Farm Bureau dining area is one of five Iowa institutions being studied as part of a state project to help growers learn how to market to institutions. Last summer, the State of Iowa received a $55,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct the project.

The Farm Bureau dining area was selected as a model for the project because of its unique system for obtaining Iowa-grown produce, says Gary Huber, co-director of the Practical Farmers of Iowa Food Systems Program. Instead of selling directly to the cafeteria, growers work through Farm Bureau’s main produce distributor, Loffredo Fresh Produce Company in Des Moines.

“The advantage is that farmers don’t have to own all the transportation, because Loffedos has trucks basically six days a week go to all corners of the state delivering fresh produce, and they are willing to pick it up,” Huber says.

Growers may be hesitant to have a middleman handle their produce and take a share of the profits, but Singer says institutions prefer to work through distributors to minimize their risk. For instance, if bad weather destroys a grower’s lettuce crop, and Sodexho Marriott had planned in advance to serve taco salad, then Loffredos can turn to one of its other suppliers, such as Dole foods, for lettuce.

Also a concern is food safety. Singer says all of Sodexho Marriott’s vendors must have liability insurance to supply food to the Farm Bureau dining area. “With the things that you’ve seen in the recent past with e.coli, not only on meat but also on produce, liability has been a major, major issue for anybody that’s serving food,” Singer says.

Even though Iowa is well-known as the top corn and soybean state, more and more Iowa farmers are expressing an interest in marketing produce to institutions, Huber says. “There’s a growing number of farmers that are sort of tired of being bigger in order to be able to farm and are starting to think differently about their operations and diversifying it by trying to become part of the food system, as opposed to just the farming system.”

But before producers start planting an acre of red potatoes along side their corn and soybean rows, they need to educate themselves about the food service industry. This includes learning the lingo. Huber says producers may be used to selling sweet corn by the dozen, but food service customers buy produce in cases. A case of sweet corn from Loffredos contains 50 to 55 ears.

Huber says growers should also make sure that they receive a fair market value for their produce. He suggests that growers work together to supply institutional markets, rather than competing against each other by offering prices lower that the cost of production.

Additionally, producers should keep in mind that not all institutions can afford to pay premiums for Iowa-grown produce. “Corporate food services, hotels and restaurants are some of the more lucrative compared to other ones such as nursing homes, hospitals, and public school systems,” says Huber.

Singer says “A Taste of Iowa” has been such a success with Farm Bureau employees that Sodexho Marriott is looking into expanding the program to its other corporate accounts in the Des Moines area.

And Steve Winders, Loffredos food service sales manager, says Loffredos is willing to work with more Iowa growers. Currently, four Iowa growers supply produce to the Farm Bureau dining area.

PFI and the State of Iowa plan to distribute in April a set of educational materials about marketing to institutions, based on the findings of the grant project.