Page 74 - Retail_Sustainability_Award_09-to-18

Farming For Answers
Danny Wegman’s vision to build a burgeoning organic farm, nestled in the Canandaigua, NY, Finger Lakes growing region, where families have owned land for over 100 years, is emblematic of how produce-focused sustainability flows through the company’s core.
When Danny Wegman came up with the idea, envisioning where customers would be five to ten years down the road, initial reaction by some was to question the logic, “We’re grocers, not farmers,” says Eben Kennedy, group manager, produce, who describes the evolu- tionary plan to transform the farm from its beginnings seven years ago as a research oper- ation to a catalyst in developing a fertile and profitable northeast organic supply. “This is a unique opportunity to bridge disconnects and build relationships between the retailer, customer and grower,” says Kennedy.
“It was Danny Wegman who said, ‘How do you have credibility if you’re always a researcher? At the end of the day, you don’t take research to a bank. You take the money that you’ve earned from your successful busi- ness plan that produces a value,’” says Kennedy. “Farmers should always be doing research and learn from trial and error, but it’s a business and you want it to be profitable,” adds Jamie Robinson, organic farm manager.
“Wegmans has always done a great job of understanding what the customer’s needs are, but we always have to link those needs with the grower,” Kennedy continues. “Now when we sit down with growers, we talk a common language and that’s key,” he emphasizes. “We truly under- stand what they’re going through because we’re actually testing the varieties here. We can say, okay, that’s not going to happen because the efficiency is not there, for example, so let’s go in a different direction.”
That direction involves channeling insight from a range of experts, including researchers at Cornell and other university ag extension programs, and down the supply chain consulting with seed companies. “If someone has an idea that we believe is going to work, we can test it, where the average farmer just can’t because the investment is too big. If they make a mistake, it could cost them their business,” says Robinson.
When Wegmans went out looking for local organic growers, it was very difficult to find them, according to Kennedy. “We have 540 conventional growers, and how do we get them to develop organic varieties with favorable
profiles, and will they work in recipes at restau- rants and sell at retail?” asks Kennedy, adding, “Our goal is to grow 10 months a year and limit carbon footprint accrued when bringing in organics from California.
Customers appreciate that we are supporting our growers and the community.”
Wegmans uses the organic farm as an educational tool for its merchants. “When we ask an employee a question of how a product is grown, often they can’t answer it, so we estab- lished our Ambassador Program. Ambassadors from different Wegmans’ locations spend time at the farm and actually help harvest the product, pack the product and learn everything about what’s going on at the farm, and then they take that information back to the stores,” Kennedy explains.
“We’re also doing this with our grower part- ners,” says Kennedy. “For example, Spiral Path [based in Loysville, PA] and Mason Farms [based in Williamson, NY] have ambassadors that spend at least one or two days a month at the farm. Then they bring that information back to the store and they sell the product directly to customers. “
Wegmans calls it KBS — or Knowledge- Based-Service. “We’re giving people the knowledge and they’re taking it back and communicating with the customer. Our ambas- sadors will pick the produce from the farm, drive it to the store, set up their little cart and then they are there to explain,” says Kennedy.
“It’s awesome to have the organic farm so close and be serviced by them,” says Brett Ahrens, perishable area manager at the Wegmans Canandaigua store. “We have a nice arrangement with the farm,” he explains,
pointing to a fresh delivery from the farm of just picked organic mixed lettuces and micro greens gracing the shelves in Wegmans Organic Farm labeled clamshell packages.
“We feel lucky to be a part of this innovative model.” Alvin Phillips, Jr., produce manager, adds, “We use this store as a pilot for sustain- ability projects. It’s amazing what’s coming out of the farm and what’s being learned as Wegmans seeks bigger opportunities.”
LAYOUT OF THE LAND
The 50-acre property is set up on a plot system, so each plot represents a different crop to simplify the process and it also helps with traceability, says Kennedy. “We must trace our product from the field plot all the way to the store and back,” he says, noting, “whatever we ask of our local growers, we do ourselves.”
There are many organic growing challenges to overcome in this region. “In the winter time, we plant cold hearty crops like Asian greens, lettuces, spinach and kale, and we harvest in high tunnels, which are in plastic, covered greenhouse-like structures, as needed,” Robinson describes. “We’ll do micro greens and wheatgrass in our seed house, and we’ve also
56 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2013