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Articles : Farm to
Chef Express First Order Success!
Farm to Chef Express First Order Success!
 A
total of seven farms received orders from the first Farm to
Chef Express (FCX) delivery to NYC restaurants. Orders totaled
nearly $800. The first restaurants to order were of course our
friends from the steering committee, Cleaver Company and Savoy.
The smaller restaurants that we are in contact with are definitely
interested but have told us that it takes them a little more
time to "gear up" for something new, so we expect
to receive orders from them starting in the next few weeks.
This is a great start for FCX, and as additional farms join
the program we will grow successfully I'm sure.
So far the bulk of farms joining FCX have meat for sale, which
is great because chefs are definitely looking for local sustainably
raised meats. However, there is also interest in produce and
fruits as they come into season, and we are eager to add additional
producers of all types of products to the order list. Send commitment
letters to Paula Schafer at Washington County CCE and products
for order to Judith - contact info can be found at the end of
the newsletter.
Attached is a sample of this week's order list. We have been
faxing the order list to chefs until the electronic ordering
system is up and running. Chefs are used to dealing with faxes
and this is working fine except for the amount of labor it takes
to develop the form, update it and fax to each restaurant. Then
waiting for and processing replies, etc. is another time consuming
process.
Website and Electronic Ordering System
 The
contract has been approved and we should be ready to complete
set up of the website and ordering system within the next few
weeks.
Each farm's feature page on the site will have space for 2 pictures:
we would like one picture that includes the producer(s) and
one that features your products or a view of the farm. There
will be ample room for text about the farm and products, notation
of how the products are raised using our standard definitions
and a quote from the producers on any aspect of the farm or
production that you wish. I will work with you to develop your
page as you want it. It will be able to link to your own website
if you have one and it also can be used as a website address
for your farm if you wish.
Producer/Chef Ordering Time Frames
Order sheets are being faxed to chefs on Thursday's for reply
by Monday's at noon. Therefore I will need product information/updates
by Wednesday night's in order to add it to the Thursday's fax.
It's preferable if to fax me product information so that I have
in writing the amount available, unit size and price per unit.
It's also possible to call me with the information, but if the
list is long and complex this introduces opportunity for error.
I will contact producers on Monday's night with information
regarding the amount of product ordered from that farm, the
restaurant contact information, and the drop off time and place.
This worked very well already as we met at a centrally located
farm for drop off and three producers were able to coordinate
drop off to reduce their travel.
Drop off occurs on Tuesday night. Producers will bring the
products ordered, separated by restaurant if appropriate, ready
to be trucked to NYC. (Boxed, etc.) Producers will also bring
2 copies of an invoice for each restaurant listing the products
being delivered there, amount and price. One copy will remain
at the restaurant as their billing invoice and one will be signed
by restaurant staff and returned to the producer as confirmation
of delivery.
Transportation Update
 Paula
and I are continuing to work on systematic transportation for
our products. My partner Ivan and I handled the first delivery
in a rented van with large coolers. This worked really well,
and was a great learning experience. We will continue with this
type of transportation, using various folks we can find, until
a more permanent arrangement is in place.
It looks as if a van outfitted to transport both frozen and
cooled produce will meet our needs at least for the foreseeable
future. This option will be much more cost effective than a
full refrigerated truck. Bryan from CLS trucking is researching
options for installing a freezer on one of his vans along with
other cooling options. As amount of product transported increases
it might even remain more cost effective to run a van twice
a week rather than a large truck once a week.
Contact Us to Join FCX or to Discuss Your Questions
Judith Kleinberg
878-2308 cell phone
371-5592 home phone
383-3786 fax product list
liasion@farmtochefexpress.org
Paula Schafer
746-2560 Washington County CCE
885-8995 Saratoga County CCE
pjb11@cornell.edu
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