Market Mobile
Farm-to-Biz online ordering.
Fresh from 50 family farms and
local producers across RI, MA and CT.
Local 365 Initiative
Market Mobile is part of Farm Fresh RI's Local 365 Initiative. Farm Fresh RI is rebuilding a year-round food system driven by the needs of Rhode Island farmers and eaters. Our Local 365 goals:
  • Expand local farm production.
  • Increase efficiency of processing, distribution, sales.
  • Increase number of outlets to buy/eat local foods.
  • Foster and support new class of businesses built around local foods.
How do we get to Local 365?
Blueprint
Expansion Plans: 99% Opportunity
Customer mapOnly 1% of the food we eat comes directly from a local farm. The future of our food system will pivot on our ability to reintegrate local producers into all of the other outlets for food. Those can be big conversations, so it's through Market Mobile that Farm Fresh offer a model that is oriented around the needs of both farmers and wholesale buyers. Changing the food system is a big task, but we care about the place we live and we know we're not the only ones. Only 1%? We see it as 99% opportunity.
Farms
our chefs have led the way, and
over the next few years, we're going to become even better friends with schools, hospitals, grocers & worksites near you.
2009
$220,000 in sales
from 40 local producers
to 30 weekly customers
via 1 delivery per week
2010
$680,000 in sales
from 44 local producers
to 60 weekly customers
via 1 delivery per week
2015
$2.5 million in sales
from 60 local producers
to 155 weekly customers
via daily delivery

1% → 3% local food by 2015.
It may seem like a big jump. But by leveraging other distributors, we don't need to move all the food ourselves to grow local food consumption from 1% to 3% and beyond. Feeling customer pressure, existing distributors are already linking in to take advantage of the information Market Mobile makes available, and new distributors are building models around it. Farms that used to sell to anonymous wholesale markets are now linked into local schools and grocery store shelves. There's a renaissance going on in local and regional food systems, but still a need for models...


Modeling a Local Food System

Farms

2011 Warehouse Buildout
  • Capacity to serve larger buyers like schools and hospitals.
  • Capacity for multiple delivery days, which is key to helping our chefs make local ingredients more than just a curiosity on their menus.
  • Capacity to self-sustain operations.
  • These require an investment in infrastructure:
    • Cold, dry, freezer storage. Uniquely, we're designing it to keep the farm origin of the food intact.
    • Packing line for efficient aggregation.
    • Adjacent site to Wintertime Market.

Outreach & Partnerships
  • Growing demand for fresh food within schools, hospitals, grocers, worksites and everywhere we eat.
  • Identifying champions within each target site: chefs, food service directors, kids, parents, doctors, nurses, HR, employees.
  • Leveraging synergies with current partners, including Kids First, DOH and EJ League.
  • Increasing regional partnerships with other groups in New England working towards a sustainable food system. Rhode Island is not an island!
Farms
Farms

Value Chain Transparency
  • Farmers set prices and food origin is always preserved. We know our farmers well. We see most of them 2 or 3 times a week.
  • Customers order by farm, not by commodity.
  • Farmers are always paid within 2 weeks of delivery.
  • Market Mobile's transparency can be a model for a marketplace in which farmers have a say. Market Mobile makes an unprecedented amount of information available about local food availability and pricing.

More Farmland
  • Reaching $2.5 million in sales will support 200-300 additional acres of vegetables and fruits and 300 additional acres for animals.
  • Our current farmers are adding production on unused land. Some are growing veggies on acres that once grew nursery crops, which took a hit when the housing market fell.
  • Of our farmers, 3 are just starting their farms and looking to expand as they try to make a livelihood of it.
  • We're very excited to be able to add new farms to the program.
Farms
Farms

Community & You
  • Market Mobile has been possible to the dedication of many volunteers, who care deeply about our farms and food. They care deeply enough to come to our warehouse to lift a few tons of fresh produce every Thursday at 7am!
  • If you run a kitchen, become a Market Mobile customer.
  • Help your school, worksite or favorite restaurant get involved. Email Hannah.
  • Lend a hand. Literally, come help us sort on Thursdays! Email Hannah.