Small farms receive a lifeline from co-op

Small farmers, few of whom sell to large grocery chains, are starting to fear for their survival, given the closure of some farmers markets and restrictions placed on restaurants in the government’s effort to contain the coronavirus.

Farmers have reached out to Farm Link Hawaii to sell more of their produce, as “their regular outlets have been drying up,” says Rob Barreca, founder and chief executive officer of the online marketplace that distributes produce supplied by some 90 local farms.

“They’re starting to sweat; things are starting to stockpile and standing orders are shutting down,” Barreca said Thursday. “We’re just on the cusp of it; it’s getting really bad, I think.”

But on the upside, Farm Link has seen a spike in registration from individual households who want to place orders on its website. Normally, Farm Link serves 182 individual customers, but 147 more have signed up for the marketplace in the past week. Barreca attributed the increase to people seeing empty shelves in stores; the shuttering of farmers markets, bars and dine-in restaurants; and being self-quarantined at home.

Farm Link also distributes products to about 70 commercial buyers, such as restaurants, caterers and grocers, he said. About 80% of restaurants have canceled their orders, and he fears “we’re approaching zero.”

Farm Link has been scrambling for two weeks to expand its operation. “We have to make sure the farmers don’t go out of business; that’s the scariest thing from where I stand. All of these fragile, razor-thin-margin businesses with no security net, the last thing we want is for them to not plant more food because they can’t sell it. I want to ensure that we are buying as much as we can from local farms and they just continue to plant food and do what they do.”

“The second thing is to make sure that people are getting access to food,” he said.

Though Farm Link is a for-profit business, it is working to obtain funding, partners and other resources to provide subsidies to help needy families purchase produce on a sliding scale.

“As the situation gets more dire, we’re trying to set up a program where people can be ordering online, and we’re doing home delivery so that there’s minimal human contact but they can be supporting local farmers and getting it at a price they can afford, all the way down to zero.”

Farm Link is also trying to find more warehouse and cold-storage facilities and delivery trucks. Volunteers are needed to package food into individual household orders and to make deliveries, he said. The company has four full-time staffers, one refrigerated delivery truck and four cold-storage hubs where farmers drop off produce — in Haleiwa, Kaawa, Waimanalo and Waianae.

“A farm is not like some other business, where you can put it on pause a little bit and stuff sits in the warehouse” until business picks up, he said. “If our farmers start struggling and stop planting, and going out of business or reducing their operations, we’re going to be feeling it for years. It’s taken so much to get our small farmers to where they are now. It was decades of work to get to this place. I think they are the most vulnerable small business and the most essential.”

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Visit farmlinkhawaii.com or call 201-5252.

PRODUCE SUPPLY A BALANCING ACT

At Armstrong Produce Ltd., the state’s largest wholesaler and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables, “hotel and restaurant sales have fallen dramatically,” but the company’s retail sector has offset the losses, as more people are eating at home and buying groceries, says Tisha Uyehara, director of marketing.

Shipments from the mainland have been regular and consistent, contrary to rumors that Matson, Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo carrier, had shut down its docks, Uyehara said. Of Armstrong’s suppliers, 80% are from outside Hawaii, with local farmers providing the balance.

Supermarket customers might see shortages in potatoes, carrots and citrus fruit as people stock up on basic supplies, but these are usually temporary, she said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t have it for days or weeks.”

New shipments will bring more, Uyehara said. “They needn’t hoard because they hear shelves are empty. … As long as the distribution chain remains open and continuing, I think it will be OK.”