Value Chain Strategies for Source-Identified Minimally Processed Produce for the School Market
A Manager’s Guide to Food Hub Finances - Worksheet
Understanding Local Food Transportation Costs
Food Hub Center
Food Hub Benchmarking Study Now Accepting Participants
To participate in the 2018 Food Hub Benchmarking Study go to: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4224256/Food-Hub-Benchmarks
Baseball legend Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.” That’s the idea behind the Food Hub Benchmark Study: to better understand where the sector is headed, and to help individual hub operators understand how to get on and (stay on) the path to long-term financial success. A benchmark study collects financial and operational information from businesses in the same industry or sector. This information is analyzed to determine validity and comparability, standardized, and then aggregated to show a range of performance indicators. The resulting benchmarks not only provide insight into the sector, but also provide a decision-making tool for individual business managers.
Visit the Food Hub Community of Practice discussion group
(you must be a member of the community of practice - register here)
Food Hub Directory
The USDA has a food hub directory. Please list yourself there, and keep your listing updated!
Featured Resources
| Findings of the 2017 National Food Hub Survey | Wholesome Wave's Food Hub Business Assessment Toolkit | MarketSizer® and HubSizer® Toolsite by New Venture Advisors |
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What is a food hub?
A regional food hub is a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.
Red Tomato created this informative video on what a food hub does:
The NGFN Food Hub Collaboration supports the success of existing and developing hubs. Read a summary of our approach.
Research & Resources
- Look in the left sidebar for a list of some of the best papers and presentations on food hubs. Or click here for titles and descriptions.
- The Making Good Food Work conference website has a great set of resources here and here.
- The Sustainable Agriculture and Research Program (SAREP) at UC Davis has many resources on food hubs and values-based supply chains.
- Financing Healthy Food Options Resource Bank from the US Treasury CDFI Fund
- 2013 Food Hub Benchmarking Report
NGFN Webinars
Some webinars we've hosted relevant to food hubs.
>>> See our UPCOMING free webinar topics >>>
- Production Planning to Increase Market Efficiency: Reducing Financial Risk Through Food Hubs
- Food Systems Networks That Work - Accelerating Learning and Increasing Commerce
- Financing Food Hubs: Dozens of Ideas to Access Capital
- Clearing the Roadblocks: Market Based Strategies for Getting Good Food to All Communities
- Food Hubs: Viable Regional Distribution Solutions
- Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Significant Food System Change: Food Hubs, Regional Distribution, Farm to School, and more
- The Business of Food Hubs: Planning Successful Regional Produce Aggregation Facilities
- Community Food Enterprise
- Innovations in Value Chain Infrastructure-Red Tomato
- Aggregation/Distribution: Appalachian Sustainable Development
Excellent Partner Webinars
- Food Hubs: What are They? Why do They Matter to the Northeast? from Farm Credit East
Assistance for Food Hubs: Consultant Database
The Wallace Center maintains a database of technical assistance providers to help us facilitate technical assistance to community based businesses and organizations.
Are you a consultant? You can submit your most recent CV for our Professional Register through this announcement.
Are you in need of technical assistance or food systems consulting? Please contact us for more information about our consultant matchmaking assistance.
Funding Sources
USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Regional Food Hub Subcommittee created an edited selection of USDA programs that have previously supported regional food hubs, with examples of funded projects.
NGFN Food Hub Collaboration
The NGFN Food Hub Collaboration is a partnership between Wallace Center at Winrock International, USDA, National Good Food Network, and others including Wholesome Wave, Farm Credit Council, Michigan State University, National Farm to School Network and School Food FOCUS. The Collaboration is working to ensure the success of existing and emerging food hubs in the US by building capacity through connection, outreach, research, technical assistance and partnerships. By supporting this crucial player in the value chain we aim to accelerate the growth of regional food systems that make healthy and affordable food available to all communities while fostering viable markets of scale for regionally focused producers.
