Name

Ann Higgs

Occupation

Executive Director, Growers Station

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m the executive director of Grower’s Station. I have been in the horticulture industry for about 12 years now, primarily in greenhouses.

What is Growers Station?

We are a non-profit, farmer-led food hub that represents small and medium size farms for their sales, marketing and distribution to the wholesale market which is primarily restaurants and small mom and pop retailers. We do this by way of our online sales platform which connects farmers and producers to over 120 wholesale customers and vice versa, it gives restaurants and retail locations access to the freshest local produce from over 60 suppliers, all on one easy convenient site.

Why was Growers Station created?

Growers Station was created by farmers for farmers -and other food producers. For example we represent other dry good food producers. We were starting to see a lot of overlap amongst the farmers in their routes and drop off locations so we wanted to streamline that for them. The goal was to ultimately come up with a solution that would take that extra labour, time and mental stress off farmers so that they could focus on growing the food they produce.

How many farmers and wholesalers do you currently service?

Today we service 120 wholesale customers with 60 farmers and producers. We are looking to double that number this year.

How did this idea come about?

We started after a number of farmers came together at a COPC (Certified Organic Producers Cooperative) open house event where we brainstormed ways to better represent COPC’s clients. At that meeting we came up with Grower’s Station based off of what we thought would best suit the needs of the farmers right now and help to alleviate the most time and stress off of them. Once the idea was sparked we worked with COPC to bring it to life.

What type of food is available through Growers Station?

Primarily, we have seasonally produced fresh farm produce that we are picking and delivering within the same day. That’s really what is unique about us, the product is picked and delivered within a 48-hour window so you know you are getting the freshest product possible. Our routes are even designed to be as short as possible so our trucks are only on the road as needed. We also have a large selection of dry goods such as beans, flour, cooking mixes, honey, maple syrup and infused oils.

What are your hopes for the future?

Our biggest goal for the future is around community resilience. We are looking to expand where we are located and where our farmers are located. We would like to expand outside the Queen’s region and bring local food and food resilience to smaller communities. We want to find and help new farmers by integrating them into our platform (as well as new retailers and restaurants across the island) to ease their workload as well as their access to local fresh food.

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