CNY Bounty: Strengthening Community through Enhancing Marketing and Distribution Opportunities for Farmers

CNY Bounty: Strengthening Community through Enhancing Marketing and Distribution Opportunities for Farmers

Summary

The Bounty has experienced significant growth during the NE SARE grant period to date. Where we have exceeded our targets in some categories, we have fallen short in others, yet all-in-all the Bounty continues to be a huge benefit to the agricultural community, helping to bridge the rural-urban divide, providing diversified market opportunities for growers, and contributing a considerable economic and community impact. In addition, whereas CNY Bounty has focused a substantial amount of effort on expansion into Onondaga County, we were also presented with opportunities in Broome County, and thus have split our efforts.

Objectives/Performance Targets

1. Increase in total number of customers ordering from Onondaga County from 64 (as of November 1, 2009) to 250 by January 2011.

Between January 14, 2010 and December 13, 2010, 590 new customers signed up to order from CNY Bounty from Onondaga County. Out of this number, 287 placed orders, and 200 placed more than one order.

2. Increase in total number of Onondaga County customers ordering per week from 15 to 150 by January 2011.

The average number of orders per week in Onondaga County over the ten-week period from September to the middle of November was 45.3. Thus, we have not quite reached our goal, but our well on our way.

3. Increase average order amount ($) of Onondaga County customers from $25 to $45.50

The average dollar amount per order in Onodnaga County over the ten-week period from September to the middle of November was $33.79. Thus, we have not quite reached our goal, but our well on our way.

4. Increase in the number of wholesale orders per week (i.e. sales to restaurants, grocery/natural food stores, etc.) from 2 (November 2009) to 8 by January 2011.

Though we have not increased the number of wholesale accounts as much as we would have liked, we have focused our efforts on an institutional food sales channel, Hamilton College. We are located in an area with many College and Universities, which represents a tremendous opportunity for local growers with direct marketable products. We are currently averaging over $2,000 in sales per week through Hamilton College (when they are in session), including one week with over $6,000 in sales. We have had several meetings with Colgate University, Morrisville State College, Syracuse University, and SUNY ESF and believe that in the near future there will be opportunities to sell local farm product to these institutions. In addition, we have developed wholesale relationships with Binghamton University Coop, Serendipity Catering, and two University fraternities (one at Colgate University and the other is at Cornell University).

5. Increase in the number of farms/processors from Onondaga County participating in the Bounty from 0 to 15 by January 2011

As of December 15, 2010, CNY Bounty is working with 6 farmers and processors from Onondaga County. We have had conversation with many more growers and plan to add them as soon as we switch to our new website (anticipated date is 3/1/2011).

6. Increase in the total number of farms/processors participating in the Bounty from 88 (November 2009) to 120 by January 2011

As of December 15, 2010, we have 119 farmers/processors participating in CNY Bounty. There are many more producers that we have identified that we are interested in bringing into the distribution system as soon as we get our new website launched.

7. Improved farm profitability (to measure this we will establish baseline data of what each participating farm grossed through the Bounty in 2009 and compare it with 2010).
We will provide this information in detail after the end of this fiscal year (12/31/2010).

8. Increase in total gross Bounty revenue from $169,000 (estimated 2009) to $775,000 by 2012

We estimate that CNY Bounty is currently grossing about $350,000/year. Total operating budget is closer to $430,000, thus we are still grant dependent, however getting closer to sustainability all of the time. Due in part to the dramatic increase in the number of producers, we had to hire an additional staff member, a Quality Control Manager, to work closely with producers. Many of the smaller and/or beginning farmers, in particular, needed assistance with a variety of things, such as: packaging appropriate for wholesale distribution; creating invoices; labeling; etc. Before CNY Bounty hired the Quality Control Manager, we did not have an employee with time available to devote to these issues, and thus received many more consumer complaints.

Accomplishments/Milestones

CNY Bounty has made great strides in terms of meeting its objectives. In terms of sales, CNY Bounty has grown from approximately 80 orders per week to 152. The customer base has expanded from 731 to 1,395 (including over 2,500 people on the weekly email list), and the Bounty is developing an institutional local foods sales channel for Hamilton College. In addition, the Bounty has established 17-drop sites throughout 4 Counties, including 4 sites in Onondaga County (see below), grown from 89 to 119 local farmers and processors, helped in the establishment of 6 new farms, and created over 13 full-time equivalent jobs. The other major CNY Bounty success has been the large growth of orders from SNAP (food stamp) recipients. This development is due in part to the establishment of drop off sites in underserved communities, including the Southside Innovation Center (located in Syracuse, Onondaga County). CNY Bounty also spoken with over 50 community groups during the grant period, and made presentations at 3 major regional conferences.

CNY Bounty Drop-Site Locations

Wednesday Drop-Site Delivery
• Bakers Maple, 1 Freiot Ave., Bainbridge, NY 13733
3:00pm-5:00pm
• Brookside Greenhouse, 4004 Nelson-Erieville Rd., Cazenovia, NY 13035
2:00pm-7:00pm
• Colgate University, 13 Oak Dr., (O’Connor Campus Center), Hamilton, NY 13346
4:00 pm-5:30pm
• Cornell Cooperative Extension, 100 Eaton St., Morrisville, NY 13408
2:00pm-4:00pm
• Evan’s Farmhouse Creamery, 5037 Norwich Rt. 23, Norwich, NY 13815
4:00pm
• Golden Artists (employees only), 188 Bell Rd., New Berlin, NY 13411
2:00pm-7:00pm
• Oneida Healthcare, 321 Genesee St., Oneida, NY 13421
3:00pm-4:00pm
• Rural Health Network, 2663 Main St., Whitney Point, NY 13862
2:00pm-7:00pm
• Solstice Whole Foods, 30 S. Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815
4:00pm
• Sunrise Family Farms Warehouse, 5 Cherry St., Greene, NY 13778
11:00am-4:00pm

Thursday Drop-Site Delivery
• Down To Earth Whole Foods, 305 Grant Ave., Endicott, NY 13760
4:00-8:45pm
• Fayetteville YMCA, 200 Towne Dr., Fayetteville, NY 13066
9:30am-11:30am
• North Area YMCA, 4775 Wetzel Rd. Liverpool, NY 13090
10:00am-12:00pm and 5:00pm-7:00pm
• Norwich Family YMCA, 68 North Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815
11:00am-1:00pm
• The Spring, 200 Brooklea Dr. Fayetteville, NY 13066
4:00pm-5:30pm
• South Side Innovation Center (SSIC), 2610 South Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13205
4:00pm-7:00pm
• Southern Tier Independence Center, 135 East Frederick Street, Binghamton, NY 13904
3:00-5:00pm

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

CNY Bounty still has a ways to go in order to prove the viability and sustainability of its model, however all of the growth figures are pointed in the right direction. Recent customer and producer surveys indicate high levels of satisfaction, yet room for improvement. Customers and producers alike are dissatisfied with the current website (producers because they do not have access to the back end) and we recently sent out RFPs to redesign the site. In general CNY Bounty continues to make improvement and have a substantial community impact. The final report for this project should indicate the overall model sustainability.

Collaborators: