Athens Locally Grown Presentation for Georgia Organics 2010 Conference

Athens Locally Grown Eric Wagoner, ALG Manager Todd Lister, Veribest Farm

locallygrown.net • A new type of direct marketing • Not exactly a farmers market • Not exactly a CSA • Not exactly a buying club

Our Beginnings • Athens, GA • Spring 2002 • 6 growers • Handful of wholesale & retail customers

The Original Idea • Pool our produce • Single point of sale • Focus on chefs

It Didn’t Work • Athens too inexpensive • Farms too small

Change of Focus • Small sales to individuals • A “secondary” farmers market

Accidental Discoveries • Easier • Less risky • Customer preferred

Farmers Market Problems (Grower) • Grueling work • Speculative • High barrier to entry

Farmers Market Problems (Customer) • Must arrive early • Must buy quickly • Not convenient

CSA Problems (Grower) • Daunting planning • Not very ﬂexible

CSA Problems (Customer) • Inﬂexible • Limited choice • Too much kale

Buying Club Problems • Hard to organize • Local options limited

We Seemed to Solve Those Problems

Athens Locally Grown Now • 100 Growers • 2700 Customers • $10K Weekly Sales

I Wrote Software So The Market Runs Itself

The Mechanics (Growers) • Create an account • Describe the “farm” • List products • Harvest orders • Drop off packaged orders • Proﬁt!

The Mechanics (Customers) • Create an account • Place orders • Pick up and pay for orders • Repeat as desired

The Mechanics (The Market) • Growers list Friday through Sunday • Customers order Monday & Tuesday • Growers harvest Wednesday • Drop off & pick up Thursday

This slide contained a movie that is up on YouTube. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrP14KjI5v0

The Idea’s Spreading • 76 markets processing orders • 55 more getting started • All using locallygrown.net

Easy • No nerds required • Start a market in 15 minutes • For growers large and small • Customers catch on quickly

Flexible • Have one farm or many • Charge memberships or not • Take pre-payments or not • Have one pickup location or many • And so on

www.locallygrown.net All photos from growers at athens.locallygrown.net

http://locallygrown.net	29930
http://www.locallygrown.net	6061
http://mymothersgarden.locallygrown.net	326
http://upstate.locallygrown.net	275
http://bloomingtongrowers.locallygrown.net	142
http://norheastgeorgia.locallygrown.net	139
http://ore_kolonaki-l83541_m._peuko_-l36991www.homegrown.locallygrown.net	135
http://www.upstate.locallygrown.net	132
http://ampabay.locallygrown.net	89
http://www.clemsonareafoodexchange.com	84
http://tulsacleanfoods.locallygrown.net	79
http://dalcuore.locallygrown.net	75
http://statesboro.locallygrown.net	69
http://searcycertifiedarkansasfarmersmarket.locallygrown.net	68
http://8.17.84.65	60
http://litterock.locallygrown.net	56
url_unknown	46
http://gwinett.locallygrown.net	46
http://mccollomsmarkets.locallygrown.net	45
http://locallygrown.us	37
http://georgia.locallygrown.net	36
http://rabbitfootfarm.locallygrown.net	34
http://www.mccollomsmarkets.locallygrown.net	33
http://champaign.locallygrown.net	33
http://pierpontfarms.locallygrown.net	29
http://cleanfoodstulsa.locallygrown.net	28
http://windeaterexpress.locallygrown.net	26
http://stoneriver.locallygrown.net	26
http://athen.locallygrown.net	24
http://popecounty.locallygrown.net	24
http://www.dalcuoremarket.locallygrown.net	24
http://lakecounty.locallygrown.net	24
http://ozarkmountainmarket.locallygrown.net	23
http://swainsboro.locallygrown.net	23
http://xonway.locallygrown.net	23
http://kawarthaecogrowers.locallygrown.net	22
http://cummingharvest.locallygrown.net	22
http://delmagrowerscoop.locallygrown.net	22
http://abtasty.com	22
http://sewardfarmmpls.locallygrown.net	22
http://sceniccityfoodcoop.locallygrown.net	21
http://marketdothan.locallygrown.net	21
http://st.pete.locallygrown.net	20
http://august.locallygrown.net	20
http://august.locallygrown.net	20
http://mccollomsmarket.locallygrown.net	20
http://fayetteville.locallygrown.net	19
http://cumberland.locallygrown.net	18
http://greenvillechefs.locallygrown.net	18
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	16
http://fresharvest.locallygrown.net	16

Athens Locally Grown Presentation for Georgia Organics 2010 Conference

by Eric Wagoner

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Athens Locally Grown Presentation for Georgia Organics 2010 Conference Presentation Transcript