My experience with a produce delivery service that holds itself out as a supporter of small farms.
I learned of The Produce Shape as a new grower. I had decided to leave my corporate job and make a way to bring the family farm out of mothballs. My first season as a grower was a real leap of faith. I had never grown produce on any scale and had only a hand-full of very good neighbors as customers (bless them for their blind support). I was very happy to have a very good crop and I knew that I had grown more than i could sell at the Person County Market, wich was the only market I could sell at. A contact put me in touch The
After this meeting, I was very excited about the prospects of being a partner of such a succesfull regional company. A future for the farm seemed possible! That excitement was pretty short-lived though. As I'd discussed with the founder and buyer, i called to discuss the fall garden. What could i grow that might help the prodcue box meets its customers needs in the fall? That was what the benefit of the partnership was supposed to be. Sadly, several call went unanswered and unreturned. The first time i did catch up, the story was that it was too early to think about the fall planting. The buyer would look over his data and get back to me. One week goes buy, I don't hear back. Another couple of unaswered calls later, I finally get the buyer to call me back. He explains that he does not anticipate needing anything from me in the fall. He already has people lined up with things in the ground to meet his needs. In the course of a week we'd gone from too early to too late!
This, together with a few other interactions with The Produce Shape that are too tedious to get into, made me realize that the small grower bit was a marketing ploy. they bought most of their produce from the big guys. They used the little guys when it suited them but they were "big and getting bigger" and it was obvious what role the little farmer was going to play in that growth. It actually becao
After this meeting, I was very excited about the prospects of being a partner of such a succesfull regional company. A future for the farm seemed possible! That excitement was pretty short-lived though. As I'd discussed with the founder and buyer, i called to discuss the fall garden. What could i grow that might help the prodcue box meets its customers needs in the fall? That was what the benefit of the partnership was supposed to be. Sadly, several call went unanswered and unreturned. The first time i did catch up, the story was that it was too early to think about the fall planting. The buyer would look over his data and get back to me. One week goes buy, I don't hear back. Another couple of unaswered calls later, I finally get the buyer to call me back. He explains that he does not anticipate needing anything from me in the fall. He already has people lined up with things in the ground to meet his needs. In the course of a week we'd gone from too early to too late!
This, together with a few other interactions with The Produce Shape that are too tedious to get into, made me realize that the small grower bit was a marketing ploy. they bought most of their produce from the big guys. They used the little guys when it suited them but they were "big and getting bigger" and it was obvious what role the little farmer was going to play in that growth. It actually becao
