Recap: Northern Kentucky Buyer Tour

In October, Savannah Columbia and The Food Connection's Value Chain Coordinators (VCCs) took three Kentucky producers, three school food service directors, and four Extension professionals on a Buyer Tour in Northern Kentucky. For those who may be unfamiliar, a Buyer Tour is a tour of local food buyers in an area to initiate connections between those food buyers and local food producers. Buyer Tours allow growers and producers to get a behind-the-scenes look at what happens at marketplaces such as retail stores, locally sourced restaurants, school foodservice, and local food distributors. Attendees can ask questions, talk with buyers, and receive first-hand knowledge about what it is like to sell to a restaurant, distributor, or a local retail opportunity.

On the Tour in Northern Kentucky, producers visited the Ag Complex in Campbell County to meet with the Diocese of Covington (K-12 school food service directors interested in farm-to-school), The Standard Covington (a local restaurant interested in sourcing local food), and What Chefs Want (a distributor of local food). Each stop is unique, as they purchase food for different consumers.

Each stop on the tour was dedicated to making new connections with local food producers – which is what this tour is all about! It was encouraging to see the connections made on the tour that will (hopefully soon) come to fruition.