Fresh Thinking

 

NESAWG'S Annual Conference

IT TAKES A REGION - 2011:

A  WORKING CONFERENCE TO BUILD OUR NORTHEAST FOOD SYSTEM

Featuring A Day Long, Pre-Conference Session with Red Tomato

Selling to Retailers: Scaling Up Farm Fresh Food, Thursday, November 10, 2011,  9:30 - 5:00

Produced and facilitated by Michael Rozyne, Sue Futrell and Red Tomato, with special guests:

  • José Alvarez, former president and CEO of Stop & Shop; currently senior lecturer at Harvard Business School
  • Doug Rauch, former president of Trader Joe's; currently Fellow at Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative

It's nearly impossible to seriously scale up a food hub or farm without selling to retailers. It's the sure way, and in many locations the only way, to reach large numbers of people where they normally shop.

But how do small- and medium-scale businesses and farms connect with a retail distribution system that has grown massive and foreboding over the last half century?

In this day-long session, facilitated and led by food hub veterans from Red Tomato, and two retail leaders who dared to think and act outside of the box, we will explore:

  • basic language, concepts, and formulas of food distribution
  • the state of the retail industry today, with history to shed light on how we arrived here;
  • competitive retail strategies at play today: private labeling; different versions of local programs; sustainability initiatives; branding; forms of cost reduction; lean management approaches to inventory, quality control, purchasing, and distribution;
  • the nature of supermarket buyers; how to speak their language and get their attention;
  • common bottlenecks that stand in the way of success;
  • strategies for small- and medium-size food hubs, businesses, and farms;
  • examples from the field of success and failure;
  • Q&A to customize the day ─an opportunity to discuss your real-time issues and bottlenecks with the whole group;

Click HERE for the full agenda.

This session is open to both (a) experienced practitioners currently engaged in some form of food business. and (b) those without business and marketing experience, but a healthy curiosity. Experienced practitioners will be challenged─there will be time for Q&A and opportunities to discuss your issues and bottlenecks through case work and real-time problem-solving. REGISTER TODAY TO SPEND A DAY WITH RED TOMATO AND SOME OF OUR MOST VALUED ADVISORS!

WHEN: Pre-conference trainings on November 10, Conference on November 11-12, 2011

WHERE: Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, Albany, NY

CONFERENCE INFORMATION: Visit www.ittakesaregion.org.

REGISTRATION: EARLY BIRD DEADLINE is OCTOBER 19. Link to online registration via www.ittakesaregion.org. Bring a buddy: Purchase one registration at the early or regular rate. Your "buddy" -- a colleague, board member, constituent, community member -- receives $50 OFF the registration fee.

BE A CONFERENCE SPONSOR: Sponsor funds go toward scholarhips so everyone can participate. 

HOSTED BY: NORTHEAST SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP