3.4 - Food Processing PDF

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FARM TO PLATE STRATEGI C PLAN | 3.4 FOOD PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING

The perishability of the late
summer harvest is an annual
reminder of the need for in-
state processing capacity.
Putting food by has always
been a part of Vermonts
cultural heritage. Early white
settlers had no choice but to preserve their summer harvest, and the Great
Depression and the scarcity of the World War II era only heightened Vermonters
self-sufciency ethic. The generation that emigrated to Vermont during the
back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s chose to increase their personal
supply of year-round local foods, and year-round interest in local foods
today has been spurred on by the localvore movement.
Bridging the harvest from summer to winter isnt the only reason for
processing. Some foods are rarely found in an unprocessed form: meat
is butchered, oats are rolled, milk is pasteurized, and maple sap is boiled
into syrup. Farmers may wish to use processing to recover value from an
overabundance of fruits and vegetables or when cosmetic or other minor
blemishes keep them from being sold as fresh, whole produce. Other forms
How big is Vermonts food processing and manufacturing industry? How can Vermont increase its capacity for
processing local food? What are key processing infrastructure needs?
of processing transform a commodity ingredient into a specialty food with a
signifcantly higher retail value, such as transforming milk into artisanal cheese or
yogurt.
ANALYSIS OF VERMONTS FOOD SYSTEM
Food Processing and Manufacturing
GETTING TO 2020
Goals 13 and 14 of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan address the need
to strengthen Vermonts food processing and manufacturing sector,
thus providing farmers with more outlets for their products both
locally and beyond Vermont and providing consumers with more
year-round Vermont-produced choices.
Goal 13: Value-added food processors will be proftable, retain and/or
add quality jobs, and strengthen and beneft from the quality of the
Vermont brand.
Goal 14: Food processing facilities of all kinds will enable producers to
access a wider range of market outlets and enable greater year-round
consumption of local food.
Where can entrepreneurs enter the food
system who are not necessarily producers?
We have this whole food system here, so
how do people identify the opportunities?
Northwestern Vermont focus group
participant
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CURRENT CONDITIONS
Throughout the F2P planning process, we
heard from Vermonters who believe that
Vermont should have additional in-state
processing facilities available for farmers
and food entrepreneurs. However, getting
from that expressed desire to viable
business models is not a simple process,
and a comprehensive inventory of food
processing and manufacturing facilities
has never been conducted in Vermont.
F2P researchers have begun to inventory
processing facilities by purchasing
data that provide some geographic
locations and the sizes of businesses
by gross sales (Figure 3.4.1). However,
the number of practices covered under
food processing and manufacturing
makes any comprehensive inventory
a continuously moving target and one
that doesnt always reveal direct linkages
with the farming community. There are
also signifcant diferences in the markets
these processors may target. Market
outlets can range from major dairy
processing for yogurt shipped nationwide
or maple syrup (e.g., Vermont produced
46% of the nations maple syrup in 2010),
to on-farm slaughter facilities that feed
a single family or specialty products
sold in only one or two local stores.
Knowing the scale of production is part
of understanding other components of
Some of our favorite foods and beverages are manufactured in large commercial
facilities, such as Lake Champlain Chocolates, Magic Hat beer, Madhouse Munchies, and
Ben & Jerrys ice cream. Even when they use few, if any, locally produced ingredients,
these manufacturers are a signifcant part of the Vermont food system landscape.
Processing can open up new markets, such as high-volume, year-round businesses
(e.g., restaurants and hospital and school cafeterias), many of which are interested in
lightly processed foods as a way to reduce the labor that would otherwise go into peeling
winter squash, washing and chopping vegetables for salad bars, or slicing apples for
baking.
This section of Chapter 3 provides an overview of the issues and challenges in food
processing and manufacturing that were voiced during the F2P planning process, as
well as examples of challenges and opportunities drawn from current examples in the
state.
Processing and food manufacturing
facilities in Vermont take many
forms and operate at many
different scales. Consider the
following examples:
Dairy processing, including fuid
beverage milk, yogurt, cheese,
butter, ice cream, and powdered
milk
Slaughter and meat cutting and
packing facilities
Mobile processing, including custom
slaughter and butchering
Sugarhouses
Bakeries
Canneries
Breweries, wineries, cideries,
meaderies, and distilleries
Co-packing facilities
Incubator and shared-equipment
space for specialty food producers
Custom on-farm equipment,
including: bean threshers, grain
millers, oil presses, dehydrators, and
textile processors
Community kitchens
Household kitchens
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Bottling milk, date and location unknown.
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Figure 3.4.1: Vermont Food Processing Facilities the system, such as the regulations that cover the facility, the infrastructure needed
for distribution, the packaging needed for transport, the market capacity to take local
farmers products, and challenges in sourcing enough local supply.
According to the Vermont Department of Labors Covered Employment and Wages
(QCEW) statistics for the frst quarter of 2010, Vermont had at least 143 food
manufacturing establishments that collectively employed at least 4,033
people (Table 3.4.1). The food processing and manufacturing sector is the second-
largest manufacturing sector employer in the state, behind computer and electronic
products. Food manufacturing is one of only two manufacturing sectors that
saw employment growth from 2007 to 2010 (Table 3.4.2), but the average wage
of the food processing and manufacturing industry ($37,612 per year) is less than the
average wage of the 19 industries depicted in Table 3.4.1 ($43,485).
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The QCEW fgures do not account for the large number of food manufacturing
establishments operated by sole proprietors or partnerships. When these QCEW
fgures are added to the U.S. Census Bureaus Nonemployer Statistics, the number of
food manufacturers grows to at least 456 establishments and at least 4,346
employees.
Vermonts food processing and manufacturing industry includes 71 on- and of-farm
dairy processors
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(Vermont dairy farms belong to one of six dairy co-ops), 49 on- and
of-farm licensed cheese makers, 61 slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities,
at least 21 breweries,
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27 wineries,
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and 47 commercial bakeries.
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A few small-scale
facilities exist for products such as organic canola and sunfower cooking oil, vodka and
mead, and yarn and carded wool. These tallies do not capture the other businesses
that support food manufacturing activities (e.g., machinery and equipment) and create
a signifcant economic multiplier efect.
Figure 3.4.2 provides a sense of the variety of processing facilities in Vermont and their
locations. Note that it does not include the states 71 dairy processing facilities.
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Table 3.4.1: Manufacturing Industries Sorted by Employment

Industry Number of
Establishments
Number of
Employees
Total
Wages
Average
Wage
1 Computer and
electronic products
44 6,684 $538,563,068 $80,580
2 Food 143 4,033 $151,678,356 $37,612
3 Machinery 70 2,688 $142,309,260 $52,944
4 Fabricated metal
products
108 2,238 $117,222,136 $52,384
5 Transportation
equipment
27 1,916 $109,753,064 $57,272
6 Miscellaneous 92 1,805 $71,284,844 $39,492
7 Wood products 111 1,659 $55,186,376 $33,260
8 Nonmetallic
mineral products
120 1,359 $58,300,736 $42,888
9 Furniture and
related products
79 1,351 $42,349,716 $31,348
10 Electrical equipment
and appliances
28 1,307 $64,229,004 $49,156
11 Printing 76 1,147 $46,372,528 $40,416
12 Paper 11 1,096 $70,607,964 $64,424
13 Plastics and rubber
products
27 1,005 $44,061,060 $43,828
14 Chemicals 35 727 $29,904,476 $41,136
15 Beverage and
tobacco products
22 337 $10,959,456 $33,240
16 Apparel 18 243 $5,713,880 $23,512
17 Primary metals 4 145 $10,327,775 $46,020
18 Textile mills 9 102 $3,205,068 $31,320
19 Textile product mills 15 5 $1,395,772 $25,376
Source: Vermont Department of Labor, QCEW, 2010, frst quarter.
Figure 3.4.2: Vermont Food Processors (excludes dairy processing)
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Manufacturing
industry
EMPLOYMENT CHANGE
2010 First
Quarter
# Change
2007 to 2010
% Change
2007 to 2010
Food 4,033 314 8.4%
Electrical equipment and
appliances
1,307 9 0.7%
Machinery 2,688 -175 -6.1%
Beverage and tobacco
products
337 -45 -11.8%
Paper 1,096 -165 -13.1%
Transportation equipment 1,916 -319 -14.3%
Miscellaneous 1,805 -351 -16.3%
Computer and electronic
products
6,684 -1,482 -18.1%
Printing 1,147 -313 -21.4%
Plastics and rubber
products
1005 -276 -21.5%
Nonmetallic mineral
products
1,359 -409 -23.1%
Chemicals 727 -219 -23.2%
Apparel 243 -76 -23.8%
Fabricated metal products 2,238 -744 -24.9%
Wood products 1,659 -555 -25.1%
Furniture and related
products
1,351 -639 -32.1%
Textile mills 102 -79 -43.6%
Textile product mills 55 -101 -64.7%
Table 3.4.2: Employment Change in Vermonts Manufacturing Industry
Source: Vermont Department of Labor, QCEW, 2010, frst quarter.
CURRENT CONDITIONS
This section of Chapter 3 highlights the ways Vermont businesses are developing
processing facilities and the challenges they are facing. It is by no means an exhaustive
inventory of all the business models, opportunities, and challenges in food processing.
Instead, it describes common challenges and opportunities, and some creative approaches
to food processing that are emerging in the state. The following six examples illustrate
critical concepts in charting future opportunities for Vermont food processing and set
the context for the analysis, objectives, and strategies that follow.
Relieving bottlenecks in current processing capacity: We use the example
of livestock processing to illustrate the challenge of product supply exceeding
Vermonts current capacity to process it.
Localizing processing infrastructure: We use the example of fuid milk to
describe the opportunity of operating processing facilities closer to the farm where
the raw ingredients are produced.
Vertically integrating operations: We use the examples of farmstead cheese
and light processing of fruits and vegetables to illustrate the opportunity of
bringing light processing under the same roof as the core farm operation,
creating efciencies and improving margins by controlling the number of steps
in the value chain.
Developing localvore products along the supply chain: We use the example
of localvore bread to illustrate issues entrepreneurs face when introducing previously
unavailable locally sourced products to a larger audience through collaboration
with processors, distributors, commercial users, and end customers.
Promoting mobile processing: We use the examples of quick freezing of berries
and poultry processing with mobile units to illustrate ways to generate adequate
an volume of inputs by bringing processing to multiple farms instead of bringing
the products of multiple farms to processing facilities.
Increasing locally grown inputs: We use the example of specialty foods to indicate
opportunities for increasing local inputs in food processing.
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Bottlenecks in Processing Facilities: The Case of Livestock
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Farmers need to be able to slaughter their animals in a timely manner, with the
appropriate regulatory oversight, for their desired method of marketing to consumers.
As part of the F2P planning process, interviews were conducted with a number of
existing slaughter and processing establishments to assess their capacity to increase
proftability and animal throughput. Farmers were interviewed to capture their
perspective on needed improvements to the existing slaughter infrastructure. The
availability of various types of slaughter services, regulatory oversight of slaughter, and
access to inspected slaughter facilities have concerned Vermont livestock producers
since the mid-1990s and generated signifcant discussion during the statewide F2P
meetings.
The demand for slaughter appears to be rising while capacity to meet that demand has
sufered setbacks. As Table 3.4.3 shows, between 1997 and 2010 the number of red
meat commercial slaughter and processing plants (state and federal) decreased from
14 to 8, and the number of commercial processing plants (state and federal) decreased
from 23 to 14. This has signifcantly decreased the ability of Vermont livestock producers
to access slaughter and processing to support the wholesale or retail marketing of
meat from Vermont raised animals. Franklin County is particularly underserved since
Bushway Packing Inc. in Grand Isle was closed in 2010 and Green Mountain Packing
in Swanton closed in 2004. In addition, many of the owners of existing facilities are
reaching retirement age, and new operators have not stepped up to take over the
facilities. Many small grocery stores that had the capacity to process slaughtered
carcasses have dropped the service, placing additional pressure on meat processing
plants.
However, the news is not all bad. As Table 3.4.3 also shows, over the past 13 years,
the total number of state- and federal-inspected slaughter and processing facilities in
Vermont has increased to 58 from a low point of 50 in 2005. The doubling in number
of custom red meat processing plants from 14 to 28 over the past 13 years refects the
demand for locally raised meat and has reduced the pressure on commercial
slaughterhouses to process meat for home consumption. Compared to other New
England states, Vermont has maintained a fairly diverse system of state-inspected
facilities and other slaughter options for meat producers, such as itinerant slaughterers
(on-farm slaughter for home consumption), custom slaughterhouses (for home
consumption) and commercial slaughter plants (for meat sold commercially). A new
state-of-the-art 18,000-square-foot USDA-inspected plant, Westminster Meats,
recently opened in southern Vermont. A number of new state- or federal-inspected
processing and fabrication facilities are on the brink of opening, including one in Orleans
that will further reduce the bottleneck for access to slaughter in a timely manner. Perhaps
just as important, some existing plants have recently expanded their operations, thereby
increasing Vermonts slaughter capacity. Figure 3.4.3 shows the location of the various
types of livestock and meat processing locations throughout the state.
Inspected
Facilities
State Federal Total
97 05 10 97 05 10 97 05 10
Commercial red meat
slaughter and processing
3 1 1 9 7 7
7
12 8 8
Commercial red meat
slaughter (no processing)
1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0
Commercial red meat
processing (no slaughter)
11 2 4 12 13 10 23 15 14
Custom red meat slaughter
(no processing)
0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
Custom red meat
processing (no slaughter)
14 22 28 0 0 0 14 22 28
Commercial poultry
slaughter and processing
2 1 3
8
2 2 3 4 3 6
Custom poultry
slaughter only
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Total unique facilities 31 28 38 25 22 20
9
56 50 58
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Note: The Westminster Meats plant and the mobile poultry unit are unique. Westminster does
both red meat and poultry and thus is counted in both categories above. The mobile unit does only
slaughter.
Table 3.4.3: Vermont Inspected Slaughter Facilities
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Fundamental concerns still exist around processing capacity after slaughter, such as
a lack of experienced meat cutters who understand what consumer and restaurant
chefs are looking for, the potential for changes in the regulatory environment, and
changing or increasing demands from producers (e.g., packaging and presentation).
Balancing Processing and Fabrication
A Slaughterhouse Feasibility Report prepared for Pride of Vermont by Sleeping Lion
Associates in 2005 found that Vermont had more than enough slaughtering capacity
but insufcient processing and fabrication capacity. That is, even with the decrease
in red meat slaughtering facilities, Vermont has sufcient kill foor square footage to
slaughter a consistent number of animals fve days a week, year-round. Currently, most
Vermont slaughterhouses kill animals only one to three days per week and spend the
other days processing carcasses.
Many facilities operate on a limited
basis from February through August.
In 2010, Sam Fuller of NOFA-VT
conducted a survey of slaughterhouses
and processors and found that they
operated from 30 to 80% capacity
during this of-season. The seasonality
of grass-fed livestock production
in Vermont places a premium on
slaughterhouse access, processing,
and fabrication from September through January. On one hand, if facilities are sized
to accommodate high fall demand, then expensive space is underused for most of
the year. On the other hand, the shortage of sufcient slaughter and meat processing
capacity during the high-demand September to January season is a well-documented
reality and limits the production of livestock and poultry in Vermont. Some livestock
producers book slots more than six months in advance to ensure the timely slaughter
of their animals, and some Vermont slaughterhouses are currently booking slaughter
dates over a year in advance. Whats clear is that it is not sufcient to simply look at the
square footage of slaughtering space available in Vermont. Processors need to balance
the slow times with the overbooked times of year, and kill foor activities with the time it
takes to process the carcasses.
Figure 3.4.3: Livestock Production, Slaughter, and Processing Facilities
The people who are doing the complaining
about slaughterhouses are the ones who
bring in animals once or twice a year in the fall
and they have a diferent cut sheet for every
animal, or each side of every animal, for each
of their customers.
participant
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Regulatory Environment
The Federal Meat Inspection and Poultry Products Inspection Acts as well as state laws
govern the slaughtering and processing of meat and poultry for human consumption.
The USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) is responsible for ensuring that
meat and poultry are safe; wholesome; not adulterated; and properly marked, labeled,
and packaged. These federal acts defne the process for pre- and postmortem inspection
and describe the specifc marking, labeling and packaging requirements.
Vermont is home to a number of itinerant custom slaughterers who slaughter animals
on farms for home (noncommercial) consumption. An itinerant custom slaughterer may
slaughter livestock owned by an individual who has entered into a contract with a person
to raise the livestock on the farm where it is intended to be slaughtered. There has been
some confusion around the amendment to 6 V.S.A. 3306(f), dubbed the on-farm
slaughter amendment, which was adopted in 2009. VAAFM, in consultation with the
USDA, has clarifed these federal regulations that govern this particular type of custom
slaughter.
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Meat to be sold through institutional or retail channels must be slaughtered and
processed in a state- or federal-inspected facility. Generally, federal inspectors oversee
facilities that slaughter and process meat and poultry. FSIS has cooperative agreements
with many states, including Vermont, that allow state inspectors to enforce requirements
at least equal to those imposed under the federal acts for state-inspected facilities.
Regardless of how a facility chooses to operate, federal and Vermont law require it
to be licensed if it is engaged in the business of buying, selling, preparing, processing,
packing, storing, transporting or otherwise handling meat, meat food products or
poultry products.
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Many farmers have concerns about in-state and out-of-state distinctions. Any commercial
meat shipped across state lines must receive federal inspection. Some Vermont farmers
feel that small-scale production is doubly penalized; that is, they believe that many of
the federal requirements are not scaled appropriately to their size of operations and that
being in a small state makes it more likely that they will have to cross state lines to fnd
markets. Some food safety professionals also express frustration at the statefederal
distinctions, because the FSIS pays these same state inspectors to enforce the federal
regulations. Exemptions to the inspection rules are described in Appendix E, along with
additional details on regulations for facility construction.
In the mid-2000s, the Vermont Legislature enacted several statutes to ease the
regulatory oversight of food safety requirements for poultry processing, and placed
more responsibility for making informed decisions on food sourcing in the hands of
consumers. Similar eforts are underway to increase consumer access to uninspected
and farm-slaughtered beef, hogs, and sheep. Current federal regulatory language limits
some opportunity for inspection fexibility at the state level. Agricultural producers difer
in their opinions about the wisdom of this efort. Any regulatory changes to the
Vermont meat inspection program must be made only after careful
consultation with a true cross section of all producers.
Several producers expressed an interest in regulatory changes to allow the retail sales
of meat derived from on-farm, uninspected slaughter. However, a number of producers
cited grave concern about any decrease in the regulatory oversight of slaughter. This
issue was raised a number of times during local and statewide food summits,
with strongly held opinions both in favor of and opposed to uninspected meat
entering retail sales. Several slaughterhouse owners pointed to the number of animals
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Alan Cushing of Vermont Livestock Slaughter and Processing
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being slaughtered and sold outside of appropriately constructed and inspected facilities
as a signifcant contributor to their proftability challenges. If changes to Vermont laws
disrupt our reciprocal agreement with FSIS, then slaughterhouses sending meat across
state lines may face shortages or lower responsiveness from their federal inspectors.
Slaughterhouse owners interviewed for this report frequently stated their impression
that uninspected facilities are able to charge less for their services and therefore draw
business away from inspected facilities. Vermont meat is also a small industry that
relies on a reputation for wholesome, quality food; any lapse in standards afects the
reputation of the whole industry, and some processors are concerned that those
lapses are more likely with uninspected facilities.
Producers Respond to Evolving Markets
Recent changes in meat and poultry production in Vermont refect an increased interest
in marketing specialty products. These specialty meat items have value added by
being locally sourced or through other designations, such as grass-fed or organic, all of
which impose restrictions on how the animals can be handled. However, Sleeping Lion
Associates Slaughterhouse Feasibility Report identifed substantial concerns about the
quality of fabrication and packaging. A report by SJH Associates in 2006, The Economic
Analysis of Agricultural Markets in Vermont: Organic / Grass-fed Dairy and Livestock for
Meat, found similar concerns. It reported that 60% of producers cited poor processing
quality as a major impediment to succeeding in the organic and grass-fed markets.
Several producers believed they did not always receive meat from the same animal
they had sent to slaughter. Many producers had started personally supervising their
animals slaughter and processing at the plant. Anecdotal concerns were still being
expressed by producers during the F2P stakeholder sessions in 2009-2010.
Even if producers are assured that the fnal product does, in fact, meet the standards
set by a specialized designation, they still need to sell a product with overall high quality.
Livestock producers who raise high-quality lamb, beef, pork, and goat meat need
attractive cuts and packaging to command premium prices. Poorly cut carcasses,
unattractive packaging, and sloppy labeling all eat into proft margins. The packaging
and presentation demands of consumers are often unfamiliar to slaughterhouses,
which are used to packaging cuts in freezer wrap. Because processing services are
in such high demand, commercial livestock producers have been stymied in their
Braults Market
Tony Brault has cut things all his life, everything
except his own hair, and hes so busy lately,
he hasnt gotten around to letting someone
else at it. One of his earliest memories as a kid
in the Northeast Kingdom is standing on an
overturned soda crate, cutting meat beside
my grandfather with a butter knife so I couldnt
injure myself. Back then his grandfather owned
a slaughterhouse in Troy, and there were others
in nearby towns Orleans, North Hyde Park, and
Richford.
Now Brault is the owner of that Troy slaughterhouse, and a third generation meat cutter.
He is also the father of the fourth generation, as his son is also working at Braults Market, a
custom slaughtering, cutting, packing, smokehouse, and curing facility and store.
To get there, a customer will turn of Route 100, by the Braults sign, and cruise down a
long straight lane that leads directly to a wide building. If youd stopped there last year, you
would have parked your car in front of an unwelcoming, but kempt building, and let your-
self in by a door that seemed as much a private entrance as it did the door to the store.
Now, thanks to grant money from the Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program, a
customer will fnd a handsome edifce with a few windows and a door that leads to the
spacious renovated meat shop.
The new retail facility at Braults has a slicer, a meat case, a food-grade band saw, and bags
of their famous leathery spicy beef jerky on the counter. Brault said theyre still putting the
fnishing touches on the retail area meat case. Nevertheless, a customer will currently fnd
a carnivores larder of ham, Canadian bacon, boneless pork loin, West New York strip, west-
ern rib eye, local T-bone, water bufalo rib eye, franks, and sirloin top butt, all purveyed by
Braults sister. And they can help themselves to even more in the new self-service freezer.
From A Boost to the Butchers, Vermonts Local Banquet, Winter 2010,
www.localbanquet.com/issues/years/2010/winter10/slaughterhouses.html
Tony Brault
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Market and Brand Opportunity: Humane Certifed
Vermont has the opportunity to provide national leadership in the movement to
promote the humane treatment of food-producing animals. Livestock producers have
new opportunities to explore as the market for products from food-producing animals
that have been raised and slaughtered humanely is growing as a result of consumer
demand.
Consumers and Humane Farm Animal Treatment
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality of their food and of the food
production process. Survey results consistently show that consumers are willing to
pay more for agricultural products that meet higher animal welfare standards. In a
2004 survey by Ohio State University researchers, 59% of respondents stated that
they would pay more for meat and dairy labeled as humane. In the same study, 92% of
respondents agreed that it is important that animals on farms are well cared for, and
85% agreed that even though some farm animals are used for meat, the quality of
their lives is important.
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A 2007 American Farm Bureau Federationfunded study out
of Oklahoma State University showed that the majority of respondents believe that
higher welfare standards produce meat that tastes better and is safer to consume.
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What does it mean to be humane?
In the United States, several certifcation programs have been created to give consumers
the assurance they are looking for when they wish to purchase products made from
humanely raised and slaughtered animals.These programs have precise, science-based,
objective standards to which certifed producers adhere, yet requirements vary among
programs giving producers options to choose the certifer who best fts the circumstances
on each individual farm. The programs are also transparent in that the requirements
are freely available to consumers. The three programs most widely accepted within the
national animal protection community are Global AnimalPartnership (GAP), Animal
Welfare Approved (AWA), and Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC). Although many
other programs with meaningful requirements exist, only these, which are endorsed
by respected nonproft humane organizations, will withstand consumer scrutiny.
Standards established and promoted by industry associations are, by and large, less
well received by consumers, who perceive those organizations as having conficting
interests.
How have producers and food retailers responded to consumer interests?
Many large and small producers have embraced the animal welfare concept and are
using it as a marketing tool. For example, Smithfeld Foods announced it will phase out
the use of restrictive gestation crates to confne pregnant sows,
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and Niman Ranch has
committed to selling only natural, sustainable, and humanely produced meat. Several
retail grocery outlets, restaurant chains, and fast-food marketers, including Safeway
stores, Wendys, and Burger King, are increasingly requiring their suppliers to meet strict
criteria for animal care and treatment. Whole Foods Market sells only cage-free eggs in
the United States and internationally. A 2008 survey conducted by Harris
Interactive on behalf of Whole Foods Market found that despite rising food prices,
nearly 80% of consumers would not compromise on the quality of the food they buy.
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In Vermont, 129 retail establishments sell HFACcertifed products. For example,
Hannaford, Shaws, Price Chopper, and several co-op and natural foods markets carry a
variety of Certifed Humane eggs, meat, and cheese.
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Several Vermont farms are
certifed by AWA.
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Humane Handling Improves the End Product
Humane handling not only improves the welfare of the animals, but also results in
tangible meat quality and productivity improvements. Acute preslaughter stress due to
excitement or rough handling can afect the quality of pork, beef, and lamb. Studies of
pigs show that highly negative interactions, such as prods with an electric goad, can
increase muscle glycogenolysis;
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increase plasma lactate concentrations;
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and produce
pale, soft, and exudative (PSE)
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meat. Stress can also reduce beef tenderness
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and
cause dark-cutting problems in the meat of cattle
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and sheep.
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Inspections that audit animal handling at slaughter plants have led to reductions in
steer and heifer carcass bruises from 48 to 35%.
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In contrast, crowding cattle during
transport and using a stick to drive them can lead to bruising.
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Pen, ramp, and race
designs can be improved to facilitate the quiet movement of animals into the stunning
box, reducing excitement, bruises, and injuries prior to slaughter.
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Certifcation programs that follow the animals through slaughter and include a respected
auditing system, such as the American Meat Institutes Recommended Animal Handling
Guidelines and Audit Guide, can drastically improve animal handling, reduce animal fear
and stress, and improve meat quality and yield. As explained by the American Meat
Institute:
Animals that are handled calmly and humanely produce higher quality meat.
Stress hormones can cause quality problems called bloodshot in beef or PSE
in pork, both of which require that parts of the meat be trimmed away. Plants with
optimal animal handling produce higher and better meat yields. Good animal
handling also enhances safety for workers. Animals that become agitated due to
rough handling can injure workers and themselves. Calm animals also are less
likely to damage equipment but a stressed or struggling animal might.
28

What are the costs and revenues of going humane?
The costs of becoming certifed by reputable programs vary. Some programs charge an
inspection fee as well as a certifcation fee assessed per head, based on the amount of
product processed and the number of certifed animals or animal products sold. However,
the inspection fee can often be shared by farms in close geographical proximity, and small
operations may be subsidized with a grant through the certifying program.
The program with the highest standards for animal welfare, Animal Welfare Approved,
is free to producers. As stated in the AWA policy manual, There is currently no charge
for joining the Animal Welfare Approved program, for audits or for any other services.
29

Additional costs may be associated with improving facilities to meet the requirements
for humane certifcation.
The promotion of humanely raised meat, milk, and eggs in the state of Vermont could
have carryover efects into other areas, including agricultural and culinary tourism.
Humane-certifed establishments can confdently allow guests to view all aspects of
animal production, because the high standards required by certifcation programs
make it easy for farmers to explain agricultural practices to urbanites who may have
never set foot on a farm.
To prevent bad actors from casting Vermont agriculture in a negative light, high standards
of animal care with efective oversight and enforcement should be implemented.
Incidents such as the Bushway slaughter plant investigation in 2010 give the entire
industry a bad image, and must be avoided in the future.
Vermont agriculture could beneft from certifying humane farming, transport, and
slaughter, thereby tapping into the demographic of consumers who care about the
treatment of food-producing animals. Humane certifcation could also be used as a
marketing tool to diferentiate Vermont farms from those in other states. Certifying
animals through a well-respected program and auditing slaughterhouses would be
good frst steps in preventing future problems. Given the level of social awareness of
this issue in the wider context of natural, sustainable, and green production, the meat
quality and productivity benefts, and the domestic and international trend toward
humane farming, Vermont could and should be a leader in this efort.
If Vermont is to retain and grow its unique brand reputation as a
traditional pastoral producer of high-quality, natural agricultural
products, it will need to focus not only on those production techniques
that enhance margin, production, and quality, but also on those that are
intrinsic to its tradition of benign animal husbandry.
Bill Schubart testimony before the Vermont House Committee on
Agriculture, 2010.
11
12
attempt to encourage greater attention to packaging and presentation. Both SJH and
Sleeping Lion reported repeated instances of errors in meat fabrication that made cuts
unsuitable for sale in the premium market for which these animals had been raised (at
a higher cost to the producer). As producers and processors attempt to increase the
sale of Vermont-raised meat to high-margin clients, it is essential that the butchering
quality enhance, rather than degrade, the value of the meat.
While Vermonts livestock industry struggles to keep up with the demands of
specialized labels today, new ones are emerging. For example, during the 2010
legislative session, language was developed to address humane slaughter violations
by creating a system of administrative and punitive penalties and allowing video
installation at slaughter plants at the discretion of the Vermont Secretary of
Agriculture. This legislation sets basic standards for a Vermont product and also
may lead to specialty humanely treated label options in the future. It is essential
that slaughter be carried out in a humane manner; however, several interviewees
mentioned that regulatory requirements cannot be so burdensome as to limit the
operation and expansion of Vermont slaughterhouses. If producers and processors
try to ofset additional costs, or market Vermonts steps toward humane standards
through a humanely treated label, they also need to know the label can be enforced
to maintain its integrity.
Producers are also looking to in-state institutional markets (e.g., hospitals and schools)
where they may be competing with commodity meat from the Midwest. For instance,
there has been growing interest in processing dairy beef for these institutional markets,
but some end users of this type of meat require additional processing steps such as
carcass pasteurization and the production of preformed hamburger patties. Access to
this equipment, such as has been recently installed at Westminster Meats, could open
up these institutional markets and large retailers. Unfortunately, the cost of even the
smallest versions of specialized equipment is prohibitive for most Vermont slaughter-
houses. A pasteurizer costs approximately $250,000 to purchase (and even more to
install), and a patty machine costs approximately $75,000.
Appendix E examines Vermonts livestock and meat processing industries in depth.
This overview introduces some of the ways a processing bottleneck can form. It isnt
only a question of the square footage of processing space available in Vermont. As
reported by Sleeping Lion Associates, those facilities need to balance excess capacity in
low demand seasons with insufcient capacity during high demand. They also need to
balance the time and labor needed for slaughter with their capacity for fabrication after
the slaughter. The regulatory system can mean that facilities suitable for meat destined
for one market cannot be used for another market. Quality can present another
constriction: if higher volumes of meat processed lead to lower quality products,
producers cant use those facilities to reach a premium market. Additionally, emerging
markets may require equipment that current facilities dont ofer.
Localizing Processing Infrastructure: The Case of Fluid Beverage Milk
Dairy farms defne the physical working agricultural landscape across Vermont, making
up a signifcant percentage of all farms in each of our 14 counties (Figure 3.4.3). In 2007
milk and other dairy products made up 73% of Vermonts annual farm receipts, with
close to 80% of all products coming from dairy farms (e.g., calves, hay, and forage).
The majority of this milk (40 to 46%) is in fuid form. However, only 8% of Vermont
milk is processed in-state.
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Milk processing is a highly competitive feld, with established national players and a
national production and processing system. Despite the prominence of Vermont dairy
production in New England, most Vermont dairy farms are competing in a national
fuid milk market characterized by the following:
High integration in the companies that bring the product to the retail market
Low variability in price by region (although the federal milk marketing order
does mandate some regional variations)
Little perceived diference between the taste of beverage milks by customers
More than a doubling in the volume of milk produced per cow since 1970
31

Rapid increases in the economies of scale experienced by the largest dairies as
they expand both per-cow production and per-farm herd size
Our farms are signifcantly smaller than their national counterparts, with sizes ranging
from a dozen cows to 2,000 cows, compared to farms with herd sizes of more than
15,000 found nationwide. Size disparity is a primary reason that farms outside Vermont
13
have consistently lower costs of production. This starting advantage is sometimes
augmented by public subsidies, such as federally funded infrastructure like water for
production, lax environmental standards or enforcement of standards, and lack of
sufcient humane treatment protection for the animals. With other products, Vermont
has been able to parlay its small size and high production standards into premium
pricing. For beverage milk, this strategy is difcult because customers usually dont
distinguish between the taste of diferent milks, and segregating Vermont milk from
other milk sources in processing facilities is difcult.
A primary focus for those working to improve the economics of Vermonts dairy
industry is currently on increasing the amount farmers receive from processors for
their milk. Other strategies include diversifying farm products beyond dairy, encouraging
on-farm energy generation (e.g., Cow Power) and renewable energy credits, and reducing
production costs (e.g., through complementary partnerships such as taking grains or
soy from local producers or creating cow-bedding material on-farm). The full range of
options is addressed in Appendix B.
Most Vermont dairy farms belong to one of six dairy cooperatives: St. Albans Cooperative
Creamery (Vermonts largest dairy cooperative), Dairy Farmers of America, Dairylea
Cooperative, National Farmers Organization, Organic Valley, and Agri-Mark. Additionally,
Dairy Marketing Services works with independent farms and cooperatives in the
Northeast on marketing their milk to processors. Cooperatives manage the fow of
raw milk through regions and the nation. Some manage the fow through processing
and retail distribution, while others remain more narrowly focused on coordination
between suppliers of the raw input and processors. This arrangement allows processors
to receive large volumes of milk that has been aggregated and screened for quality
by an intermediary. Cooperatives can spread sales over multiple processor clients
(or process their own) and balance milk across the fuctuations in supply caused by
weather, feed, and other factors unique to dairy. Balancing may involve holding milk for
a day or two or diverting it to another market (e.g., from fuid beverage milk to cheese
production). Farmers may also join national groups such as the National Milk Producers
Federation, whose Cooperatives Working Together program attempts to stabilize milk
prices through herd buyouts and export assistance.
Figure 3.4.4: Dairy Farms and Nondairy Farms by County
Milking cows at Blue Spruce Farm, Bridport
0
100
200
300
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500
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800
53
41
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179
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327 346
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Dairy and Forage Farms (3,617)
All Others (3,227)
Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture
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The federal government maintains programs that afect the price of milk as it moves
from farm to customer. Much of this control occurs at the processor level. The Federal
Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system manages the minimum amount received by both
producers and processors. It also manages producer payments by performing audits
to ensure that they receive proper payments twice monthly, and that milk quality
testing is accurate. The New England Interstate Dairy Compact allowed the New
England states to work cooperatively in this processor-level price management from
1996 to 2002 (Congress did not renew its authorization in 2002). As with other
commodities, the federal government will also buy out dry milk, cheese, and butter
when the private market prices fall below a certain minimumestablishing a known
clearing price for dairy products. Programs may also provide subsidies directly to
producers. The current Milk Income Loss Contracts pay farmers a direct subsidy when
the price of milk falls below $16.94 per hundred pounds in the Boston market. In some
years the federal government ofers herd buyouts to reduce the supply of milk. The
U.S. government does not use strict supply management strategies, such as the quota
system used in Canada, to balance supply and demand.
Organic beverage milk has increased in popularity among producers, with production
growing from a handful of certifed organic farms in 1995, to approximately 194 in
2010. Buyers for organic milk in Vermont are Organic Valley and Horizon. Appendix B,
which discusses the dairy industry in more depth, outlines the diferences between
conventional and organic milk. For this section, it is important to note that, unlike the
cooperatives that manage conventional milk, the organic industry exercises supply
management systems. These systems can produce a stable price and maintain that
price above the average cost of production. When supply gets too high for demand,
producers are required to cut back by a certain percentage. Organic milk also sidesteps
the lack of distinction that customers make in the taste of milk by ofering a diferent
set of criteria (the organic certifcation) to draw a premium price in the retail marketplace.
Vermont dairy producers have long held concerns about their relationship with processors.
Within New England, the centers of production, processing, and consumption
are not within the same location. Vermont farms provide the major share of
raw milk, while processing occurs in multiple locations (particularly
Massachusetts), and most consumers are in urban centers such as Boston and
Hartford. One major drawback of this interstate arrangement is that the pricing
structure for milk relies on the processor-to-producer payment (or processor to
cooperatives representing producers), and that price, in turn, is afected by federal
regulations and pricing rules.
Larger states, such as California,
32
have instituted a state-controlled milk marketing
order to be more responsive to local conditions for farmers than the federal system.
New England, on the other hand, does not have that option because the payments
occur across state lines. Only the federal government can regulate interstate commerce
unless Congress enacts a special dispensation, such as the one that allowed the North-
east Interstate Dairy Compact to begin in 1996.
Concern has also been raised over monopolies at the processor level. Dean Foods
and Dairy Farmers of America control approximately 90% of the Northeast regions
processing, exerting what U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders claims is a monopolistic control
in both the conventional and organic markets.
In-state processing gives Vermont better control over the process of getting milk to
market and allows Vermont dairy producers to more easily market a Vermont-branded
milk with a potential for higher retail value. Rhode Island has succeeded in this type
of local brand development with Rhody Fresh, milk produced entirely within the state.
Vermonts program for connecting consumers with local milk production is Keep Local
Farms, which allows consumers to pay a voluntary premium on their milk, which goes
to New England farmers. This program does not change the milk product itself (and
in fact, some customers simply donate without purchasing any milk at all), but it does
raise awareness of New England dairies. The three brands of milk currently produced
and processed in Vermont do have some branded initiatives, such as the Co-op Milk
produced by Monument Farms, but they supply very small distribution areas almost
entirely within Vermont and do not capitalize on the Vermont brand in the full regional
milk market.
The growing interest in in-state fuid beverage milk processing is balanced by the factors
that led to a regionalized system in the frst place. The economies of scale aforded by
moving high volumes of milk can create price point advantages over start-up, in-state
processors. Processing is only one link in the supply chain; farmers doing on-farm
processing or new local of-farm processors need to fnd a way to get milk to retail
locations. Distribution is complicated by the fact that milk is a highly perishable product
15
and also a staple that needs to always be fresh and on the shelves. Established co-ops
manage minor fuctuations in supply and have the ability to quickly calculate the best
price available to their farmers, and then divert milk to capture that price, including
to new purposes (e.g., from the fuid beverage class at one facility to cultured milk at
another). New processors and on-farm processors may have supply fuctuations and
also may not be able to shift milk to other purposes when they have a surplus. Finally,
building milk processing facilities is expensive. Entrepreneurs must raise the start-up
capital to enter a marketplace where other businesses have established facilities and
where supply regularly outstrips demand.
It is difcult for a new local processing facility to enter this marketplace, but there are
also advantages to creating this local capacity, and at least three Vermont-based
processors have succeeded in doing so. Vermont currently has four in-state processors
of fuid beverage milk: Booth Brothers, Thomas Dairy, Monument Farms, and Straford
Organic Creamery.
Booth Brothers, although located in Vermont and using Vermont milk, is part of the
national company HP Hood. Booth Brothers has created the local processing
infrastructure but does not maintain local ownership over the processing itself.
Straford Organic Creamery specializes in premium organic products. They milk a
herd of 50 Guernseys (plus a few other breeds) that graze on pasture in season, and
sell a full line of milk in distinctive glass bottles at natural food stores and food co-ops in
Vermont and western New Hampshire. A handcrafted ice cream line complements the
beverage milk selection. Strafords focus is on artisan-scale dairy production, with a
small herd, small batches, and a small distribution area.
Monument Farms milks approximately 450 cows and employs 35 people in Wey-
bridge, making this dairy one of the largest employers in Addison County. Its milk is
hormone free, but not organic. Their local branded milk has been the only milk on
campus at Middlebury College since 1950. Today, they also serve other regional
schools and restaurants. Monument Farms has become a version of a store brand
for Vermonts three largest cooperatives, which have sold a full line of their milk since
2006. Even with expansion, Monument retains an honor system cooler at its farm,
where neighbors can stop by to take products and leave payment in a cash box.
Straford Organic Creamery
Over in Straford, husband-and-wife team
Earl Ransom and Amy Huyferowners
of Straford Organic Creameryuse the
certifed organic milk from their herd of 40
Guernseys to produce 13 diferent favors
of small-batch ice cream, about 100 to 150
gallons a week. They incorporate fresh-
brewed cofee, mint plucked by hand from
their garden, and organic eggs. Some fa-
vors include coconut almond, egg nog, and
black raspberry. Smooth maple is a popular choice among localvores, since the ingredients
are all from Vermont.
Seven people, plus Amy and Earl, do all of the feld work, milking, processing, administra-
tive duties, and delivery of products. The creamery also produces milk sold in glass bottles.
Their ice cream can be found in stores, co-ops, college cafeterias, and restaurants from
Craftsbury to Brattleboro.
We do almost all our own distribution, but we do deliver to [distributors] Squash Valley
Produce in Waterbury and Hillside Poultry in Wilmington, and they bring our stuf to places
we cant get to, like Waitsfeld and Manchester, says Huyfer.
My hat is of to Ben & Jerrys for paving the way for what we do, she said. They introduced
people to super-premium ice cream, in a pint at the grocery store, from cool people in Vermont
who went out of their way to make a great product. We sell out of ice cream every summer,
and have a knee-deep waiting list of stores and restaurants that are interested in carrying
it. I suppose if another operation came along and made ice cream that was better than
ours and less expensive, that might be an issue, but Id be surprised if anyone could make
ice cream as good as ours for less money. I think it might be hard to make ice cream better
than ours on any kind of commercial scale, period.

From Beyond Ben & Jerrys, Vermonts Local Banquet, Summer 2008,
www.localbanquet.com/issues/years/2008/summer08/icecream_s08.html
Cookies and Strafords Sweet Guernsey Cream
ice cream
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All of these Vermont milk sellers tout local sourcing, personal connections, and healthy
cows free from hormone treatments as reasons to purchase their product regardless
of whether a consumer believes the milk tastes better than other milk. Each claims
superior taste due to the attention to detail possible from a small-scale processing facility,
but does not rely on customers recognizing the taste diference. Other attempts at
developing Vermont-branded milk have hit roadblocks due to a lack of in-state
processing and the difculty of keeping milk segregated by origin in out-of-state
facilities. Two companies who once used a Vermont label, Organic Cow of Vermont
and Vermont Family Farms, were found in violation of consumer protection laws that
outline what constitutes a Vermont product. The states Attorney General continues
to respond when a company is reported for claiming to be a Vermont food without, in
fact, demonstrating that its ingredients are from Vermont.
Vermont also has examples of how ambitious projects to localize dairy processing may
fail as businesses. The now defunct Vermont Milk Company, although not processing
fuid milk, began in Hardwick in 2006 as a way to bring greater local control to dairy
processing, create a Vermont-branded product line, and provide a stable price for
farmers milk. A recent case study on the Vermont Milk Company by some UVM
graduate students listed some of the factors that led to the companys liquidation in
2009, and ofers a cautionary note for any processing facility attempting to localize
fuid milk processing.
33
Following are some immediate causes of Vermont Milk
Companys problems:
Insufcient start-up capital
Difculty balancing the product mix so that all of the milk received could be used
Poorly priced products, with incorrect calculations of production costs
Need to make high milk payments in a volatile market that was in an up phase
at the companys launch
Failure to establish a competitive advantage on the retail shelves
Struggles managing distribution to customers with the consistent product
quality and predictable production schedules that established brands ofer
Lack of time for customer service, which impeded resolving problems with
existing accounts and securing new accounts
Figure 3.4.5: Dairy-Related Food Processing Facilities

Thomas Dairy, located in Rutland, purchases milk from six nearby dairies to process
into milk, favored milk, half and half, cream, and eggnog. Thomas Dairy then distributes
its products in the immediate Rutland vicinity. The cows producing the milk are
hormone-free, but not organic, because managers of the dairy didnt think their small
distribution territory had enough customers willing to pay organic premiums. When
deciding whether to remain conventional or expand their distribution to catch more
customers for organic milk, they chose not to expand.
17
Lack of a plant manager with sufcient experience in managing a diverse
product line
Processing as Part of Vertical Integration: The Case of Farmstead
Cheese and Light Processing of Fruits and Vegetables
Vertical integration happens when a business consolidates along a supply chainfrom
growing or raising food to processing and from distribution to marketing. By controlling
multiple stages of product development, a business can control costs at each stage,
receive all the profts at those stages, and directly manage for quality. Some businesses
may also reduce their transportation costs. These benefts must be weighed against
the need for a diverse set of management skills in-house, the need for equipment and
facilities for each step in the process of getting to market, and the potential of losing
out on economies of scale that are available from producing in higher volumes (a key
problem for fruit and vegetable processing, as discussed later).
This section looks at challenges and opportunities in vertically integrated processing for
two types of products: a premium product (farmstead cheese) and a product made
for a market with high price sensitivity (lightly processed produce for commercial buyers).
Farmstead Cheese
Over the past 15 years, Vermont has earned a reputation for producing high-quality
artisan cheese (i.e., cheese made in small batches) and farmstead cheese (i.e., cheese
made by the farmers who raise the animal), garnering consistent frst place fnishes
from the American Cheese Societys annual competition. Although some regions of
the world have benefted from centuries of serious artisan cheese making, Vermonts
modern cheese revival is quite recent. Only a handful of cheese-making facilities existed
in Vermont in 1995, but with the development and support of the Vermont Cheese
Council, that number grew to 42 by 2009, including Vermonts largest premium cheese
producer, Cabot Cheese, and other notable producers such as Grafton Village Cheese
Company, Vermont Butter & Cheese Company, Champlain Valley Creamery, Franklin
Foods, and Crowley Cheese. Vermonts farmstead cheese makers use cow, goat, and
sheeps milk to produce over 100 varieties of cheese.
A 2006 report on Vermonts farmstead cheese industry declared that farmstead
cheese represented Vermonts entrance into the slow food movement of handcrafted
foods that are commanding the attention and pocketbooks of consumers worldwide.
The report indicated an average retail price of $14.70 per pound with some cheeses
going for $25 per pound.
34
In contrast, raw fuid milk producers receive on the order of
$12.00 to $18.00 for every 100 pounds of their milk.
Every farm has a slightly diferent approach to developing a farmstead cheese-making
business. However, there are some common characteristics of this value-added busi-
ness opportunity. Starting a farmstead cheese-making operation, or transitioning from
other forms of dairy to cheese making, requires an investment in equipment and train-
ing in how to make a high-quality cheese product. Vermonters have sought this train-
ing through universities and apprenticeships at home and abroad, and more recently
from the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese (VIAC). The VIAC is a center for scientifc
research and training in artisan cheese making and has been housed at the University
of Vermont since 2004. The 2006 Vermont Dairy Task Force surveyed on-farm dairy
processors about their preferred source of processing assistance and found that they
looked to VAAFM and VIAC for their technical assistance needs. The new Vermont
Food Venture Center in Hardwick will ofer additional facilities for new cheese makers in
a long-term tenancy agreement with the Cellars at Jasper Hill.
One advantage of farmstead cheese making is the ability to create a unique product
in a highly diferentiated marketplace. The diference between cheese characteristics
can translate into price diferences of as much as $17.50 per pound.
35
Crafting a cheese
from milk production through to fnal sales allows a cheese maker to carefully shape
the character of each product line so that it will stand out from its competitors. It takes
years for a producer to develop the skills, product recipes, and techniques to achieve
not only the desired taste but also consistency in that taste from batch to batch.
A new twist in maintaining the consistent character of a particular variety of cheese has
emerged in recent years. As Vermonts farmstead and artisan cheeses have become
more popular and entered more markets nationwide, the volume of cheese needed to
adequately serve larger markets far exceeds this handcrafted capacity. The challenge
for producers is whether, and how, to expand their cheese lines without losing the
premium quality that created demand in the frst place. A solution that has worked
18
in the past for other niche products is for a group of individual small farmers to work
collectively. However, a cheeses taste can respond to changes in everything from
the type of soil the herds grass is growing on, to the bacteria naturally present in any
given cheese cave. Thus, two farms using exactly the same recipe will not necessarily
produce the same product. Scaling up volume for a premium marketplace in a way
that creates inconsistency in the product can quickly hurt Vermonts cheese-making
reputation and, by extension, its marketability. Several projects, including from the
Cellars at Jasper Hill, research at UVM, and the Taste of Place initiative at VAAFM, have
been looking to European and Quebec models to learn techniques for producing
identical cheeses sourced from multiple farms.
One of the principal reasons for cheese makers to go to the trouble of reaching out-of-
state consumer markets is to avoid saturating the in-state market. Each cheese needs
to command a premium price to generate a proft, and the segment of buyers willing to
pay that price on any given day is small. Even if local demand for artisan cheese grows,
it will not grow quickly enough to use all the local cheese being produced. Larger
concentrations of consumers, especially those who are used to paying gourmet prices
for premium-quality foods, ofer an outlet for cheese that wont be consumed in
Vermont. Within the regional market, these cheeses can also beneft from a local
label, as retailers in Boston and New York City regularly classify Vermont as local.
Farmstead cheese makers need to constantly cultivate new high-end markets, which
requires a particular skill set and leaves each operation vulnerable to economic down-
towns, but also can lead to higher profts.
Farmstead cheese demonstrates a successful vertically integrated business model for
Vermont agriculture. These cheeses promote Vermonts food brand reputation
nationally. They transform milk from a commodity competing in a marketplace defned
by homogeneity and low prices into a specialty food in a marketplace defned by
uniqueness and premium prices. However, entering this marketplace requires a
signifcant investment in training, patience for product development of a slow-aging
food, a skill set that ranges from milking to aging to marketing, and the ability to ride
out the impacts of economic downturns.
Lightly Processed Produce
The term lightly processed covers a range of products. For this report, lightly processed
produce refers to produce that has undergone some processing, but has not been
fundamentally altered from its original state. Examples include apples that have been
cored and sliced but not made into a pie, berries that have been frozen but not made
into jam, and carrots that have become baby carrots but have not become baby food.
This category of processing commanded a high level of interest at the F2P local food
summits and is the subject of a number of feasibility studies by local food hubs. This
interest is attributable to the complementary interest in serving two market channels
for local foods: institutional purchasers (e.g., hospitals and school cafeterias) and
wintertime customers. Schools, restaurants, hotels, and other large-scale food service
establishments can integrate local foods into their meals more easily when they are
preprepared (e.g. sliced apples), which saves them from costly labor. Freezing,
canning, and dehydrating all catch produce at harvest time and preserve it for the
winter. Light processing has the potential to make local foods available to a new category
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of buyer and during a new season of the year. However, as this section shows, many
barriers currently exist to generating the volumes necessary for commercial processing.
Just as the term lightly processed covers a range of products, it also covers a range of
business models. Following are some key models that have received attention through
either feasibility studies or pilot projects:
Established farms with raw products expanding into on-farm processing
Established nonfarm businesses that handle Vermont raw products
expanding into processing
New nonproft organizations or businesses launching to process local foods
Mobile units
Of these four options, only the frst two are vertically integrated; the third often includes
an element of integration in the business planning. Mobile units are addressed separately
later in this section.
On-Farm Expansion Into Processing
Farms throughout Vermont have added processing capacity that allows them to use
salvaged product and diversify their business. Orchards are a common example
of these types of businesses. Apples can often incur damage from events such as
hailstorms that leave the fruit cosmetically damaged but otherwise fne. Other apples
are simply too small for the standard consumer market. Read Miller, of Dwight Miller
Orchards, reports that these challenges become even more pronounced in organic
apple production, which can yield very inconsistent crops for the fresh market from
one year to the next.
36
When orchards want to extract value from apples that cant be
sold as fresh, whole fruit they often add cider making capacity.
Bill Suhr, of Champlain Orchards, has brought his processing to a highly diversifed level.
The products he creates on-farm include fresh cider, applesauce, apple pies, turnovers,
apple butter, cider syrup, fresh sliced apples (for sale to commercial buyers), and
dehydrated apples. He also works with Eden Ice Cider to press apples for making ice
cider at their facilities. In 2009 he also began contract apple pressing for Sunrise
Orchards branded line of cider. Champlain Orchards is also one of a few farms in
Vermont that has built cold storage to keep local apples available through the winter.
Suhrs integrated model doesnt stop at storage and processing. He manages the packing,
marketing, sales, and distribution to over 250 retail outlets. The farm also runs an
extended pick-your-own season and year-round retail farm market.
Champlain Orchards has diversifed as a way to use as many of its apples as possible.
The farm now enjoys name recognition with many customers in many types of markets,
from school food services to individuals at the grocery store. However, this level of
diversifcation into on-farm processing also has drawbacks. Adding processing to an
established farm involves much more than integrating growing and processing. It often
means that a farmer has a hand in distribution, marketing, and customer service to fnd
a retail home for the fnal product. It requires investment in equipment, having the
labor available to work the equipment, and the ability to harvest the additional fruit
used for processing.
Apple pulp
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The more a business diversifes, the more challenges exist in managing all of the
enterprises as distinct proft centers. Also, every new product developed requires
efort in building a market for it. For local foods, this often requires attention to
marketing details at every stage, not just making a pitch to wholesale buyers. Processors
often must follow through to help those buyers market new items to their retail
customers and establish a farmer connection in the store. Many farms fnd this
approach to be a good way to grow their businesses, but the caveat is that, to be
successful, the farmer needs to plan for managing much more than simply a piece of
processing equipment.
Nonfarm Business Expansion Into Processing
In 2009, the Deep Root Organic Cooperative received a USDA Value-Added Producers
Grant to explore the feasibility of adding light processing to its enterprises for a school
food services market.
37
Deep Root provides marketing services for its 19 organic
vegetablegrowing members, connecting them with buyers as large as Whole Foods
and negotiating deals for delivery. The majority of Deep Root vegetables leave the
state, but some have gone to Vermont schools at the end and the beginning of the
school year, primarily as a way to sell surpluses. Vermont Food Education Every Day
(VT-FEED) helps increase local farm-to-school relationships, and partnered with Deep
Root to investigate whether they could feasibly introduce a lightly processed product
for this market.
Six Deep Root farmers chose to participate in piloting the concept. These farmers
retained control of the product through its processing, but for the pilot, the Vermont
Food Venture Center did the processing. The farmer members of the cooperative would
retain ownership of the product, with Deep Root serving in a broker capacity bringing
together buyers and sellers for a commission, while constructing a multipurpose facility
where future processing can take place (in addition to storage and distribution).
School food service personnel also participated in the study. It is important to note that
these end users provided guidance throughout to ensure that the product developed
was the one best suited to the target market. Their involvement went beyond simply
advising on which vegetables to use; the school food service personnel continued with
suggestions up through the conclusion of the work.
Steve Paddock, the author of the report, identifed three core questions to answer in
evaluating potential products: whether students would accept the product, whether
the school food services would like to work with the product, and whether the price
point would be afordable to school meal programs. Although these factors are simple
to articulate, achieving them requires a study of production costs for diferent prod-
ucts, consistency of supply, marketing plans, labor costs for the processors and labor
savings for the schools, legal structure, management capacity, distribution channels,
and budgets for diferent stages of start-up and operations.
The study found that Deep Root would have difculty ofering an acceptable price
point to schools when compared with competitors who purchase raw commodity
products in large volumes and process them for the school market at very low price
points. A few schools may have the ability to adjust their budgets to aford the local
product, but there are not enough of these schools to make the business model feasible.
On the other hand, the study also found signifcant components already in place for
light processing. The quality of the product and Deep Roots ability to develop processing
facilities were both positive. Deep Root has the capacity to manage the logistics of
producing, gathering, storing, transporting, and arranging processing of the product. It
also has capacity to manage the sales efort, and facilities existed for processing
equipment. These results illustrate that Vermont has potential for businesses to expand
into viable light produce processing and that interest exists from major purchasers. The
Deep Root study also illustrates the many questions that need analysis before determining
whether a product matches what consumers (even those enthusiastic about local
foods) will buy.
The owners of Vermont Refrigerated Storage (VRS) in Shoreham, which primarily
provides year-round storage for much of Vermonts apple crop, are exploring the
possibility of providing other types of storage and light processing for Vermont producers.
VRS recently received a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) to conduct an
economic feasibility study of bulk processing and quick and long-term freezing for
institutional markets. The project will include a market potential analysis, the design of
a USDA-approved facility, and a fnancing strategy for converting a former apple storage
warehouse to a multipurpose regional food center.
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21
Establishment of New Produce Processing Facilities
In 2009, a network of food hubs across Vermont crafted a platform paper on the
development of a Regional Food Centers Collaborative. These nonproft organizations
have a broader food systems mission that encompasses supporting local farmers and
supporting the growth of the local foods movement on the consumer side. Many of
them ofer a range of services, such as research into the food system, technical and
business assistance, community education programs, networking opportunities, and
facilities (including processing) available to local farmers. As hubs for agricultural activity
within their respective regions, these organizations have the potential to attract a
sufcient volume of produce (or other raw products) to expand into a processing
venture.
The Regional Food Centers Collaboratives goals focus on achieving a localized food
system, with diverse markets and sufcient demand to entice farms to scale up and
put more food into local communities. They consider infrastructure to be a critical gap
in achieving this goal:
Examples of infrastructure needs that currently exist include shared, multi-use
regional milk processing facilities, slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities,
proftable and energy efcient season extension greenhouses, eco-agricultural
industrial parks, and light processing to meet the institutional market.
39

Several food centers are currently exploring the economic feasibility of either community
kitchens or larger-scale facilities to help small producers with aggregation, distribution,
storage, and processing.
The Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick has integrated the relocation of the
Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC)
40
into its vision and plans for the region. VFVC
has ofered producers the opportunity to process their own surplus products into
value-added food without investing in on-farm facilities or equipment, and with access
to technical assistance for product development. Technical assistance ranges from
business planning to meeting food safety requirements. In July 2010, VFVC broke
ground in Hardwick on a new $3.1 million facility that will act as an incubator space,
expanding opportunities for all food entrepreneurs and adding new cheese-making
and meatpacking capabilities that werent available at the previous facility. The Center
for an Agricultural Economy is the nonproft partner in this venture, bringing the

Figure 3.4.6: Food Centers by Region
perspective of whole food system development and the public benefts that extend
beyond the incubation of a single business.
Other processing facilities are in the planning stages. The Rutland Area Farm & Food
Link (RAFFL) recently completed a feasibility and planning analysis for a Green Mountain
Food Hub. As with VFVC, this project would situate a processing facility with a nonproft
organization to address weaknesses in its regions food system. The recommendations
22
from the analysis include ofering a variety of equipment to area producers, combining
access to that equipment with a workplace CSA (to provide early cash fow and ofer
a direct market complement to wholesale sales), and partnering with the Vermont
Foodbank to meet its processing and storage needs. As with other feasibility studies,
price points for processing certain raw products proved a concern within a dedicated
light-processing facility. The complementary lines of direct market CSA and Foodbank
usage would add additional revenues to support the processing enterprise without
directly competing against nearby for-proft businesses.
The Intervale Center in Burlington has also started experimenting with diversifed
services that may include processing at a future date. The Intervale has developed a
variety of programs to support land-based businesses, stewardship of natural resources,
and development of greater economic and social opportunity since 1988. It recently
expanded its focus to include food hub development, defned as providing farmers
with marketing support, storage infrastructure and distribution services. Various ideas
for food processing enterprises have remained on the drawing board at the Intervale
for several years, while the Center has expanded in other directions such as local food
aggregation and marketing through a multi-farm CSA. The low price of commodity
processed foods and low volumes of local food that would go into processing make
light processing a lower priority at the present.
41

The Great Falls Food Hub in the Bellows Falls region recently received a grant to hire a
Project Coordinator, primarily to advance the business planning and coordination for
the infrastructure components described in its mission statement. Its mission includes
developing the necessary infrastructure that would allow regional farmers to produce
more local food for local and regional markets, including: dry, cold & frozen storage
facilities; a licensed, commercial-sized food processing kitchen; and a wholesale/retail
distribution outlet for fresh, stored, and processed local food.
42
As with the other
regional food centers, the Great Falls Food Hub intends to combine the business of
food processing with a larger social mission of creating a strong, community-based
food system.
Intervale Center Food Hub
The Intervale Center Food Hub
aggregates, markets and
distributes local vegetables,
fruits, meats, eggs, cheeses and
specialty products. The Food Hub
creates a link between local farm-
ers and the local marketplace.
The goal is to provide the greater
Burlington community with
convenient access to high quality
foods while returning a fair price
to farmers.
This expanding social enterprise serves individuals, businesses, retailers, restaurants and
institutions through a multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and
through wholesale marketing and distribution. In 2009, its second year, the Intervale Food
Hub collaborated with 21 farmers, including 6 from the Centers Farms Program, to deliver
local food shares to over 200 members at 20 participating business drop-of sites, generating
$180,000 in gross sales. Seventy percent or $130,000 was returned to farmers with an
average of $6,000 per participating farm. By 2012, the Food Hub projects $585,000 in
CSA and wholesale sales with $310,000 returned to farmers, averaging $15,000 per farm.
Eric Seitz of Pitchfork Farm says of the partnership with the Food Hub, It is a great group
of farmers, it provides us with advanced working capital, serves as a signifcant market
account, and it gives us the ability to participate in CSA without all of the hassle.
As a multi-farm collaborative, the Food Hub has opened new market
opportunities, has increased overall farm income and most importantly,
has resulted in a farmer camaraderie that extends well beyond the scope
of this enterprise.
Sona Desai, Food Hub Manager at the Intervale Center
Eric Seitz and Rob Rock of Pitchfork Farm
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There are four basic areas of regulation or requirements that processors need to
consider:
Construction permits (including local zoning and environmental codes)
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental
Conservation
State regulatory agencies
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM)
Vermont Department of Health Food & Lodging Division
Federal regulatory agencies
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Commercial buyer (who may require a particular audit)
Multiple regulations cover food processing, but not all will apply to every facility.
Following are some key distinctions:
Products containing meat or poultry are covered by USDA (federal) and
VAAFM (state) regulations. Those without meat or poultry are generally
covered by FDA (federal) and Department of Health (state) regulations.
The Vermont regulatory agency in charge of products containing eggs or
dairy is VAAFM.
VAAFM is responsible for honey and maple production and processing
regulation.
Products containing ingredients shipped interstate or sold interstate are
subject to federal regulations unless they meet a small business exemption.
Producers and processors should be aware of the following federal safety programs:
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP): HACCP programs apply to
the processing stage and are intended to prevent contamination before a test
of the end product.
FDA HACCP
USDA HACCP
Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP): GMPs provide guidance on
establishing a safe manufacturing facility and are a basis for HACCP.
The USDA/FSIS equivalent to CGMP is Sanitation Standard Operating
Practices (SSOPs).
Good Agricultural Practices/Good Handling Practices (GAP/GHP): The USDA
Agricultural Marketing Services maintains a guide to best practices for produce
production and handling. Auditing for these practices is currently optional, but
that may change with new food safety regulations.
Not all regulations are about the processing facility and practices themselves; the fol-
lowing address labeling:
The VAAFMs Weights and Measures department can provide guidance on food
labeling requirements.
The Vermont Attorney General enforces truth in advertising laws, including
how the word Vermont is used in product labeling.
Required nutritional information and nutrition claims are regulated by the FDA.
Overview of Food Safety and Consumer Protection Regulations Relevant to Processing and Food Manufacturing
23
24
Common Themes in Produce Processing
Farmers can use light processing to create value from seasonal surpluses or lower-
grade produce that cant be sold as fresh, whole fruits or vegetables. However, the
supply of this additional produce remains low. The best business model for most farm-
ers is currently to target the fresh market and limit the time or money that goes into
salvaging produce that cant be sold there. As one forum participant stated,
Proftability decreases like its going down a staircase. Your frst and best dollars are
picked today and gone tomorrow.
Owners of existing processing facilities have seen this equation play out, with processing
equipment being used on the margins to handle occasional excesses. According to
Jef Mitchell at Green Mountain Co-Pack in South Burlington, the only way for producers
to make money from processing is to have sufcient volume. By Mitchells estimate,
about 50% of Vermonts specialty food labels are processed at his facility, but very few
use Vermont-grown ingredients, with the exception of apples and peppers. Many of
his clients use the plant only one or two days per year, although a few use it one or two
days per week. As with all examples in this vertical integration discussion, Mitchell has
combined multiple services in his co-packing facility and does not rely on the lightly
processed produce business to make the facility proftable. Mitchell sees greater
advantages in connecting the dots between existing businesses, rather than building
new facilities.
43

Another challenge that plays into all feasibility studies for processing is the regulatory
environment. Currently, fresh produce is not required to go through inspection or
certifcation at the farm, unless it is certifed organic or the purchaser for that produce
requires inspection such as a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) audit or one of the
several private company variations on that standard. A limited amount of preparation
for the customer is also allowed, such as washing and bagging. Any form of additional
processing does introduce regulatory requirements.
Future trends may lead to a more favorable processing environment. For example,
increased production levels overall will naturally lead to increases in lower-grade and
surplus food for processing. Innovative business models in processing facilities may
create new ways to make this infrastructure economically viable. Commercial buyers
are also becoming more adept at fnding ways to aford more local products, even at
a higher price. For example, according to Diane Imrie, Director of Nutrition at Fletcher
Allen Health Care (FAHC), the institution currently pays at least 3.5 times less for frozen
commodities (cut corn, broccoli cuts, blueberries, and raspberries) than the price
point VFVC estimated for a locally grown and processed product. Nevertheless, FAHC
has found ways to purchase fresh, peeled butternut squash from Eric Rozendaal of
Rockville Market Farm, who developed an on-farm processing facility for the butternut
squash market. Businesses, nonproft organizations, and technical assistance providers
continue to work on developing feasible plans to increase in-state produce processing.
Developing Localvore Products Along the Supply Chain: Localvore
Bread
44

Interest in local foods has spurred
many producers to develop all-local
products that have not been available
commercially for generations, if at all.
Vermont has recently seen the
emergence of new localvore items
such as culinary oils, dry beans, liquor,
mead, wine, vinegar, kombucha,
mushrooms, tea, oats, wheat berries,
cornmeal, barley, four, bread, and hops for beer making. This section considers the
case of localvore bread as an example of developing a product through collaborations
along the supply chain. The development of localvore bread demonstrates how many
partners can work to convert a local product to a commercially available Vermont food.
Developing a new specialty product is a multi-step collaborative process that involves
producers, processors, commercial users, retailers, and consumers. The development
process likely will include:
Initial identifcation and quantifcation of market demand for the proposed
product
Cooperation between farmers and targeted buyers to defne the specifcations
of a value-added productfor example, quality standards that may difer
between private consumers and commercial users (e.g., bakers, brewers,
Most of the farms that I know of that are doing
really well right now are creating a niche
product. They are doing value-added marketing
and something innovative and are attracting
employees to their business.
participant
25
vintners), or retail outlets requirement for particular production practices such
as eco-friendly
Collaboration among farmers, technical assistance providers, researchers, and
others to meet the agreed-on specifcations
Agreements among farmers, processors (if necessary), distributors or
aggregators, and buyers on systems for product delivery
Increase in volume of product going through the established supply chain,
including bringing in new producers and new buyers
Protecting original production standards and ensuring the continued quality of
productfor example, ofering technical assistance to new producers or writing
specifcation manuals
45
Grain growing in Vermont remains limited, with about 15 commercial producers of
food-grade grain, but interest has grown rapidly. In 2004, Dr. Heather Darby, an
Assistant Professor at UVM Extension, hosted a grain growers conference with 20
attendees. Five years later, the same conference drew 150 people. Existing growers,
such as Ben Gleason of Gleason Grains, are expanding. Gleason is not only investing in
new equipment, but also contracting with three farmers to grow wheat in 2010. New
growers are joining original pioneers such as Jack Lazor of Butterworks Farm, and new
customers are interested in their products.
The steps involved in providing local bread began with improving grain quality. Cereal
grains can grow well in Vermont because they are bred for cooler climates. Currently,
farmers and UVM Extension faculty are conducting variety trials, and bakers are
evaluating baking quality to determine the best varieties for the region. Wheat doesnt
just have to grow with good yields; it also needs to be at food-grade quality for human
consumption. The occurrence of mycotoxins, which are produced by strains of
fusarium fungus, can cause wheat to be either downgraded to feed or declared
completely nonmarketable. Wet weather and spores blown in from other areas of
wheat production exacerbate this problem in Vermont.
Technical assistance from UVM Extension has helped improve the quality and yield of
Vermont wheat. UVM helped to reintroduce heirloom wheat varieties developed for
Vermont in the 1800s, saving these seed lines and bringing back qualities bred for
Olivias Croutons
Olivias Crotons has grown from a
small, home kitchen operation
where 20 bags was a large orderto
occupying an 8,000 square foot
facility in a renovated barn in New
Haven that ships to stores across the
US. While the move to the new facility
was prompted by a need for a larger
production space, an additional con-
sideration was the landscape. Francie
Caccavo, founder of Olivias Croutons,
recognizes that the way to preserve
Vermonts open landscape is to keep
it a working landscape.
Sited on the 50-acre farm is a 1912
dairy barn that would have been lost
without a new purpose. Growing
wheat on the land is an integral part
of the work to save the barn, with
forty of the 50 acres used on a rotating
basis to grow wheat that makes its way into Olivias Croutons. Their locally grown whole
wheat four cannot entirely replace the white four used in making croutons, but Olivias
wants to use as much local whole wheat as possible.
Growing wheat can be a challenge, but the hardest part has been fguring out the milling.
The bigger mills are simply not set up to mill under contract. Olivias has found Gleasons
Grains in Bridport very accommodating, however Francie reports milling is still a hole in
local grain infrastructure.
Harvesting wheat
Bagging croutons
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Vermonts growing conditions. Other research trials focus on weed control and fertility
management to improve yield and quality. Educational opportunities at small-scale
grain-growing locations beyond Vermont and demonstrations on Vermont farms have
also improved Vermonters wheat growing skills.
In 2004 a group of farmers began to gather to talk about production challenges, such
as organic seed saving, plant breeding, and variety improvement. Today that group has
evolved to be the Northern Grain Growers Association, which includes a range of growers,
bakers, support personnel, and local food enthusiasts.
After harvest, food quality grains need to be milled. Wheat hasnt been a serious
commercial product in Vermont for over a century, and therefore, milling infrastructure
has not been maintained. Processing facilities do exist nearby in Quebec, which
has developed a grain industry larger than that of the Northeastern states. Robert
Beauchemins La Meunerie Milanaise in Quebec is co-owned by farmers, bakers, and
millers who work together to ensure fair prices across all sectors. Champlain Valley
Milling in Essex, New York, processes grains sourced from multiple regions, and requires
a certain volume before it can segregate out Vermont grains. Some grain producers
also mill for their own purposes and are expanding to be able to take on more volume,
such as Ben Gleason.
Currently, all wheat in Vermont is milled into whole wheat four. There are no white
four milling services in Vermont. Ben Gleason and Jack Lazor are establishing four-
sifting systems to create a bolted four (a type of four that has about 80% of the bran
removed). It is important to note that a far greater market exists for white four as
compared to whole wheat four.
Growing grains and accessing infrastructure for milling local fours is only a part of the
puzzle of making a localvore bread. Commercial bakers need to be able to use the four
to bake a bread that matches their quality standards. A certain amount of personal
preference goes into defning these qualities, but all bakers are accustomed to obtaining
four of a specifc quality for baking bread. These characteristics include mycotoxin
analysis, crude protein analysis, moisture, ash, and falling number (the falling number
measures how much the grain has sprouted when it fuctuates between damp and dry
conditions and begins to change starch into sugars). To assist the nascent grain industry,
UVM Extension acquired the appropriate laboratory equipment to assist farmers and
millers in conducting these tests
Bakers have spent several years fguring out how to
work with local fours. Throughout this experimentation,
local food enthusiasts have been eager to get localvore
bread and have been willing to work with bakers
as they developed a retail-quality loaf. Early breads
produced with Vermont wheat often came with full-
page disclosures on why they did not meet the bakers
standards. These breads did not go onto store shelves,
but were sold through social networks and CSAs that
targeted customers who had a larger goal of supporting
localvore eforts to increase locally sourced fours,
even if it meant really dense toast!
For several years, some bakers made breads that use
local fours in combination with nonlocal fours, and a few made an all-local loaf. In
2009, Red Hen Baking Company introduced its frst retail-quality all-local loaf (named
Cyrus Pringle in honor of a distinguished Vermont wheat breeder) for broad distribution.
King Arthur Flour followed quickly with its own local loaf at its Bakers Store & Caf in
Norwich. Jefrey Hammelman, Baking Director at King Arthur Flour, reports producing
about 600 loaves a week (using 2,500 pounds of four), with a very local distribution
area of about 12 miles.
46
Red Hen produces approximately triple this amount and
distributes through routes extending hundreds of miles.
Localvore bread development is an example of collaborative work during all steps in
the food supply chain from farm to customer. The work to get this product on Vermont
store shelves brought together growers, millers, bakers, and consumers, along with
necessary support systems of technical assistance from UVM Extension and peer-to-
peer assistance in the Northern Grain Growers Association. Lessons learned from this
process are now helping other types of grain growers explore the potential for products,
such as Dr. Darbys new project of bringing local hops to Vermonts microbrews. She
plans to follow a strategy similar to that seen in the grain industry, beginning with creating
a network among farmers and brewers.
Red Hen bread
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Mobile Processing Units: Bringing Processing to the Farm
In 2008, VAAFM piloted two mobile processing units, one for individual quick freezing
of berries and the other for poultry processing. Providing mobile units was meant to
bring processing to the farm, with the hope of building enough volume (through visiting
farms) to create a viable business, as well as prevent stress to animals or damage to
product caused by their transport. Shortly afterward, UVM student Faye Conte
conducted a review of both Vermonts early experience with mobile processing
units and experiences of projects in other states. This summary is taken largely from her
report.
47

The mobile quick freeze unit (or IQF, for individual quick freeze) was funded through
a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and the Vermont Department of Tourism, and
was built by VAAFM. The purpose was to pilot mobile quick freezing as a way to build
local berry supplies for specialty food processors. Farmers generally cannot freeze
berries for this market on their own, because the berries need to be individually frozen
instead of frozen in blocks or bags. The starting premise was that if a processor could
provide the equipment to freeze berries in the manner appropriate for use in commercial
baking, then that company could build up a local supply of berries through contract
growing. Additionally, because VAAFM does not regulate produce freezing, it could
retain ownership (and liability insurance) of the equipment, a further savings at the
experimental stage.
As with any new equipment, the IQF encountered early technical difculties. It did not
have a built-in generator, which meant that it had to be near a power supply and the
farmer needed to have the right type of electrical hookups to plug it in. The unit also
lacked packaging capabilities, and had trouble with the balance of compressor weight,
making it difcult to travel with. Moreover, because berries are a relatively unique
product that does not require blanching before freezing, when the original partnership
for purchasing berries fell through, using the equipment for other projects was difcult
because it did not have blanching capabilities. These faws could all be fxed in a second
construction attempt.
Other IQF problems involved management logistics and a lack of business planning.
The unit was vulnerable to the loss of the specialty food processor that was originally
driving demand, especially because buyers prefer to have existing contracts for frozen
berries, not to pick up surplus when it become available. Demand from the producer
side proved very loweven without any charge to use the IQF. Farmers did not have
labor to pick fruit that couldnt be sold on the fresh market, or the necessary storage
space once the berries were frozen.
Scheduling also proved difcult, because berries begin to go bad very quickly and often
simultaneously across farms. There was little opportunity to plan ahead for which
days surplus would require processing, and there was limited ability to move quickly
between farms in a single day.
In general, the demand for frozen berries did not translate into commercial buyers
building contracts with Vermont berry farmers, and Vermont berry farmers were not
themselves demanding equipment to freeze berries. The IQF is now a stationary unit
at Green Mountain College, where it complements equipment (including blanching)
at the colleges new commercial kitchen and can be used to process products for the
college. RAFFL also makes it available to local farmers interested in exploring on-farm
processing capacity building.
The mobile poultry processing unit (MPU) produced results very diferent from
those of the mobile quick freezing unit. VAAFM developed the MPU in response to
producer concerns about a bottleneck in facilities for processing private label poultry.
The Vermont State Legislature provided an $80,000 loan to build the unit. Because
VAAFM inspects poultry processing facilities, it could not also serve as the operator.
Additionally, because the funding came in the form of a loan and not a grant, the
operator needed to run the MPU as a proft-generating business from the start to pay
back the loan. It took several attempts to fnd an independent operator to pioneer the
mobile poultry processing unit.
At the time of Faye Contes study, the MPU had fnished its fall 2009 operating season.
It ran 25 times at 12 producer locations under inspection. More producers may have
brought their poultry to each location. The unit can also run without an inspector present
for farms that are selling direct to consumers within Vermont. One point of confusion
for inspected runs was that, although the MPU itself meets inspection requirements,
the site where it operates also needs to pass inspection. Several farms failed to pass
the potable water test and so could not process poultry that day.
28
Two primary issues in the business model were the costs associated with maintaining
the unit and assistance farmers required to understand insurance, the inspection process,
and preparing their site for the units arrival. Nonetheless, mobile processing for poultry
met with general success in its frst attempt, and in fact, one recommendation is to fnd
strategies to avoid over-scheduling during busy weeks.
Other states, including New York, Massachusetts, Wyoming, and Wisconsin, have
either researched or piloted diferent types of mobile processing units, including those
for large animals and cheese. Vermont is also home to a new mobile pasteurization and
cheese-making unit that produces cheese curds with the milk collected from livestock
at state and county fairs. These curds are sold to fairgoers, and the unit serves as a
vehicle for dairy education and promotion.
Presently, mobile processing is a very small piece of the processing picture. However,
mobile processing can work for specifc applications, given sufcient feasibility analysis
before building the unit and given the willingness of operators to work with equipment
that may be in the early stages of design refnement. For examples of cooperatively
owned mobile meat processing units, please see the November/December 2010 issue
of Rural Cooperatives, a publication of USDA Rural Development.
Opportunities for Specialty Food Manufacturing Using Local Inputs
Vermont is home to hundreds of exceptional specialty food makers that have contributed
signifcantly to the states reputation for quality food and that have built processing
capacity within the state. Some of Vermonts most nationally recognized companies
are in this sector, including Ben & Jerrys, Cabot Cheese, and Lake Champlain Chocolates.
The Vermont Specialty Food Association (VSFA) is the oldest such association in the
country. The Association counts 385 specialty food businesses in the state making
over 1,500 Vermont specialty food products and representing 10% of the states
manufacturing sector.
The use of Vermont-grown ingredients varies across manufacturers. Some use only
local ingredients, such as certain signature maple products, while some specialize in
foods that cant be grown or sourced in Vermont, such as cofee and chocolate. Many
others contain a mix of local and nonlocal ingredients either within a product or across
a product line.
The way manufacturers promote their
Vermont sources of ingredients also varies
across products. For example, Ben & Jerrys
is a large-scale ice cream company that
actively promotes its connection to
Vermont dairy through the St. Albans
Cooperative Creamery, while Straford
Organic Creamery is a small-scale ice
cream company that promotes its ability
to source dairy from a single Vermont
farm. Sometimes companies create
special edition products centered on a
particular Vermont farm item, such as
when Otter Creek Brewing developed
Ben Gleasons White Ale using Gleason
grains and Will Stevens Pumpkin Ale as
part of a special Wolavers line of beers
featuring American farmers. Other
specialty food manufacturers work to
support small-scale farmers and commu-
nity development generally, even when
they cant source from local farms. Green
Mountain Cofee Roasters social respon-
sibility mission, for example, includes
supporting small, sustainable farms in
cofee-growing regions and supporting
employees as they contribute to their
own local communities.
Many retailers tracking local sales recognize
specialty food makers as important local
businesses, even though they may not
use locally produced raw ingredients.
Sourcing local ingredients has many
Vermont has a broad range of
specialty foods. These businesses
represent a variety of creative en-
trepreneurs creating self-employ-
ment opportunities. Following are
examples of foods of specialized
Vermont companies:
Fat Toad Farms goat milk caramel
Laughing Lotus Farms traditional
Korean kim chi and condiments
Eden Ice Cider, one of Americas frst
Quebec-style ice ciders
Butterfy Bakerys refned sugar-free
cookies, scones, and trufes
Vermont Cookie Loves gourmet
frozen cookie doughs
Gluten-free baked goods from
Westmeadow Farm and Against the
Grain Gourmet
Millborne Farms drinkable yogurt
Aqua Viteas local kombucha
Vermont Soys local tofu and soy
beverages
Miss Mollys gourmet, all-natural
buttercream frosting
See more at
www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org
29
benefts for specialty food producers, from supporting the local food system to providing
a unique marketing hook. However, making a local ingredient connection is not always
practical. A 2008 study by VAAFM revealed that price and availability were the primary
obstacles to sourcing local ingredients.
48
Other obstacles included trouble fnding
products in the volume needed or in lightly processed form. Survey respondents also
reported problems with regulation, the poor quality of local products, and distribution.
In addition to creating a direct beneft to farmers when they purchase local ingredients,
specialty food producers also create the indirect beneft of defning a high-quality food
brand for Vermont. Many specialty food producers are heavily invested in the use
of the word Vermont as part of their marketing and branding strategy. For example,
a 2006 study requested by Cabot Cheese and the Vermont Department of Tourism
investigated visitor perceptions of Vermont and of a signature Vermont food product
49

(Cabot Cheese). The survey results reported in this study indicated that maple
syrup, ice cream, and cheese are the products most associated with Vermont.
Visitors reported higher loyalty to the Cabot brand after spending time in Vermont, and
sampling Cabot cheese while in Vermont improved the level of loyalty after leaving the
state.
This study also collected information on the wider Vermont food landscape. Although
50% of respondents normally visited farmers markets while on vacation, only 21.5%
reported visiting a farmers market in Vermont during the summer months. Although
respondents clearly associated food items with Vermont products, slightly fewer than
half described Vermont products as high quality. This additional information is useful
to all food producers, not only Cabot. Businesses involved in Vermonts food industries
can beneft from collaborative research and project development to establish Vermont
as a center for high-quality food and then translate that reputation into consumer dollars.
Vermont specialty food producers proactively bring the Vermont brand to customers
from outside of the state through a system of trade shows, such as the New York Fancy
Food Show, where major companies generally have their own booths and smaller
producers share space, often with help from trade associations. The VSFA, with funding
assistance from VAAFM, builds the Vermont presence at national shows through
shared space, shared marketing materials (e.g., banners), and subsidized registration
fees. VSFA and VAAFM also work together to establish opportunities for Vermont
Fat Toad Farm Goats Milk Caramel
Five years ago, Fat Toad Farm, a small family-run goat
dairy in Brookfeld, was looking for ways to improve their
fnancial viability through an on-farm agricultural enter-
prise that combined rising interest in local foods and
consumer appeal for the Vermont brand. It all started
with the goats and the milk itself. All of a sudden we had
pounds of milk and we asked ourselves what could we do
with it? Judith Irving recalled. We looked around to see
what was in the stores and made some cheese, but the
cheese market is crowded. We lucked out with a unique
product when our daughter went to Mexico and tried it.
Traditionally called cajeta, Fat Toad Farms goats milk
caramel is made in copper kettles in the farms small
production room. While standard caramel sauces are
based on sugar or high fructose corn syrup with very little
dairy, cajeta is primarily made from goats milk thats boiled down like maple syrup into a
creamy sauce. The frst step in building a market was familiarizing people with their special
product by ofering samples at farmerss markets and other local events. Realizing the
limited market in Vermont, Irving traveled to stores in Boston and New York to cultivate
new customers. Website sales also proved to be critical for earning the top dollars for their
products. An operation that started with a couple of pans on the kitchen stove, quickly
expanded to another production space with larger pans, then larger stoves. If you dont
start small and work your way up, then you can put a lot of money out there without
knowing what your market is going to be. We had to grow our production capacity in synch
with the goat capacity, and slowly increase the herd size along the way.
Today, Fat Toad Farm produces 750 jars a week, compared to the early days when 80 jars
a week seemed like a lot, and their goats milk caramel can be found in close to 200 stores
nationwide. Weve been exposed to broader audiences, and Im not sure if it can be found
in every state, but we are widespread and in some unusual places where you wouldnt
think a Vermont food product could go.
Fat Toad Farm caramel
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30
producers and regional or national buyers to connect, such as at the Eastern States
Exposition and the Local Foods Matchmaker. Recent expansion at the Local Foods
Matchmaker has included giving specialty food producers information on how to best
use trade shows to establish new customers. More training is needed on this topic.
One result of Vermonts success in establishing a national reputation for specialty foods
has been increased concern about protecting the Vermont name. This protection
includes ensuring that companies claiming to be from Vermont are currently located in
the state, and that companies that imply the use of Vermont-grown ingredients are, in
fact, using these ingredients. These distinctions become more difcult as some
businesses that began in Vermont outgrow the supply from Vermont producers or
even outgrow their facilities and headquarters within the state.
The Attorney Generals Ofce is in charge of enforcing regulations regarding use of the
Vermont name through its consumer protection division and the Vermont Origin rule,
which went into efect in 2006. It is designed to protect how companies use the
name Vermont and implied association with Vermont in their advertising. The rule
requires that a value-added foods most recent substantial transformation (e.g., from
milk to yogurt) take place in Vermont, that companies using a Vermont address do a
substantial amount of their business in Vermont, and that products that use the word
Vermont to describe their ingredients (e.g., Vermont Blueberry Jam) source those
primary ingredients from Vermont.
The Vermont specialty food sector can play an important role in food system
development. These businesses ofer one outlet for farmers to sell products that are
not going into fresh markets but, instead, require some amount of processing. Specialty food
businesses reinforce Vermonts reputation for high-quality food and build customer
markets locally, regionally, and nationally. Maintaining a strong food manufacturing
sector maintains processing infrastructure and a pool of workers with food processing
skills. This sector also creates a reputation of Vermont as a friendly location for
entrepreneurs interested in beginning their own food business. Support systems such
as the Vermont Food Venture Center, the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, and the
Vermont Specialty Food Association, and co-packing facilities such as Freedom Foods
and Green Mountain Co-Pack, all help these entrepreneurs become established.
ANALYSIS
The F2P local food summits, interviews, and public comments revealed a high degree
of interest in expanding Vermonts processing capacity. In-state processing facilities can
allow producers to expand their product lines, gain greater control over the process
of bringing food to market, and capitalize on local branding as well as other certifcations
based on processing procedures, such as organic, humane slaughter, or a form of
the Vermont Seal of Quality. A range of consumers interviewed for F2P expressed
demand for more processed products, everything from artisan cheese to low-cost
products developed for the food service industry. F2P research also showed that many
consumers underestimate the challenges of developing viable processing businesses
in the state.
Although a diverse range of types of facilities may be pursued, all of them have common
business issues that must be addressed. Factors that determine whether to process,
or what to process, will vary by farm and food enterprise, but include the following
considerations:
The most cost efective and proftable ways to manage surplus volume
The level of customer demand for a given processed product
The level of competition with other farmers vying for the same local customers
Proximity to of-farm processing facilities
Available labor for on-farm processing
Access to year-round local food outlets
The level of additional regulatory compliance required for processing and the
costs associated with that compliance
The existence of partnership opportunities with specialty food processors
The ability to manage multiple steps along the value chain, from the farm to
the processing facility, and from branding and marketing product lines to
reaching the consumer
31
Technology and Infrastructure
Infrastructure development doesnt end with the processing equipment. Producers
particularly those using processing to extend sales into new seasons and those with
special storage needs such as freezersstill need a way to store the processed product.
Products need to enter into distribution systems; some producers fnd space on existing
distribution trucks while others self-distribute. Also, because many processed products
are marketed as value-added local items, farmers need sales outlets to connect with
locally conscious buyers. Established retail outlets ofer one option, if they can make
shelf space for a new product. Also, year-round direct sales outlets such as winter
farmers markets are being developed across the state that ofer more opportunities
for sales. Some customers who seek out local Vermont products do not live here,
which underscores the need for efcient distribution.
Financing
Vermonts current processing land-
scape reveals a need for a wide range
of start-up and expansion fnancing,
from organizations building hybrid
nonproft or for-proft models to
businesses in micro niches with low
start-up costs to larger projects that
sometimes underestimate their needs
as they try to establish a new product.
Costs of bringing new or expanding
meat processing facilities up to code
can be prohibitive. Complying with
HAACP and new GAP standards can require new equipment and employee training.
The price that can be charged for lightly processing fruits and vegetables may be
insufcient to cover the cost of operating such a facility. Incubator facilities, such as
the Vermont Food Venture Center, need publicly provided operating funds for at least
the frst fve years to support their tenants needs. Section 5 in Chapter 4 provides an
in-depth analysis of this challenge for agricultural businesses and provides recommendations
for addressing fnancing needs.
Sales and Distribution
Sufcient Volume: Business models for new processing facilities in Vermont often falter
on the issue of volume. For example, produce processing relies on items that cant be
sold for a higher price as fresh produce, and farmers often do not have enough left
over to justify operating their own processing facilities. Other facilities are afected by
the seasonality of products (e.g., rush periods at slaughterhouses are ofset with very
slow periods). And, as with all stages of farming, economies of scale achieved by larger
processing operations that are already established outside of Vermont can make our
products not price competitive in some markets.
A variety of strategies can help address volume problems. Specialty products, such
as farmstead cheese, combine very small-scale production with very high-quality,
premium-priced, and unique products. Farmers can work cooperatively to build up a
business, pooling inputs and resources. Processing facilities can ofer diverse services,
such as the Vermont Food Venture Center and Green Mountain Co-Pack, combining
equipment with technical assistance and business incubation. Some of these facilities
may also combine nonproft programs with fee-for-service programs. In some cases,
mobile units may help. Volume concerns are a fundamental part of business planning,
but are not insurmountable.
Price Sensitivity: The price expected by the marketplace can vary signifcantly across
processed products. Some are processed into premium specialty foods, and others
are processed so that they can be more easily used by larger-scale, commercial buyers.
These large buyers may seek a high-quality Vermont product, and are important in
getting Vermont foods to a larger customer base, but they also have signifcant budget
constraints. Producers entering into processing need to thoroughly understand their
pricing options before starting a business, including their costs for equipment, labor,
distribution, and marketing, and how much their target customers are realistically willing
to pay. As the Deep Root processing study illustrated, even local-eager customers may
not be able to manage the price point of a new Vermont-processed product.
We want to pay our farmers good prices and
we do, but they are not making a fortune. If
you are raising 100 lambs, then the economies
of scale are so poor. Like with grainyou cant
buy it in bulk because it rots eventually. There
are just 101 ways that the costs are higher. Plus
the fact that taxes are higher unless you are
in current use. Its just a lot of things that are
going against the small Vermont farmer.
Rutland area focus group participant
32
Workforce Development
A common concern voiced by producers was an inability to fnd labor for both harvesting
(in the case of produce seconds) and processing. Often, the additional labor demands
also extend to distribution and marketing for the new products.
In 2006 the Vermont Dairy Task Force reported that dairy producers doing on-farm
processing ranked trouble fnding labor as their primary barrier to expansion (33% of
survey respondents). Even at their present level of operations, 43% reported a shortage
of part-time labor; full-time labor fared better with slightly less than 20% reporting
shortages. The meat industry faces particular challenges in fnding, and retaining,
appropriately trained workers for quality butchering. This lack of butchering capacity is
a major factor behind current bottlenecks in meat processing. The mobile quick freeze
unit pilot project made low-cost equipment available for freezing small volumes of
berries, but producers did not have the labor needed to pick those berries for a day
or two of freezing time. Almost every type of processing expansion comes with labor
challenges.
Regulatory and Public Policy
Creating a processing facility requires an additional layer of regulatory compliance, at
local, state, and national levels. These regulations cover both the construction and
operation of the facility. Diferent regulations are managed by diferent agencies,
including VAAFM, the Vermont Department of Health, USDA, and FDA. Perhaps one
of the most prominentand complicateddebates has arisen in recent years around
what constitutes an unfair regulatory burden for slaughterhouses. This discussion is
detailed in Appendix E and Chapter 4, Section 7 looks specifcally at regulatory issues.
GETTING TO 2020: OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
The following objectives and strategies address underlying issues in infrastructure
development, aggregation, market development, workforce training, and regulatory
assistance. They also address specifc recommendations for dairy, meat, and produce
processing as well as emerging specialty products such as local grains. The overarching
goals are to ensure that future processing facility development is well planned and
includes comprehensive business analyses and any necessary technical assistance or
professional development for new managers. Some strategies also identify specifc
research needed to educate a range of entrepreneurs and provide strategies for
undertaking market development in tandem with product development.

33
Table 3.4.4: Objectives and Strategies for Food System Education
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
N atural Resource, Physical Infrastructure, and Technology Strategies
Dairy Processing
The number of on-farm dairy processing facilities
will grow over the next 10 years, and the
infrastructure of of-farm processing will be
maintained to produce a variety of valued-added
products for consumption by Vermonters and
export from the state.
Coordinate with the Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese, the Vermont Cheese Council, and key Vermont cheese makers to conduct a
revised market demand analysis for artisan cheese processing, aging, and storage facilities for the next 10 years.
Assess equipment and training needs and secure funding to increase the sophistication and production of artisan cheese. and seek
funding.
Vermont farmers and milk processors will have access to necessary technical assistance to efciently develop dairy processing plants
and achieve compliance with the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and state water quality regulations.
Signifcantly increase the amount of Vermont-
produced fuid milk that is locally consumed or is
used in value-added processing.
Conduct a market analysis and, if viable, develop opportunities for additional local processing plants for fuid milk. Use the lessons
learned from Vermont Milk Co., Straford Organic Creamery, Monument Dairy, Wilcox Dairy, and Thomas Dairy.
Identify and connect Vermont dairies interested in developing a local milk processing facility with each other, and provide technical
assistance and business planning services.
Identify key marketing strategies for cheese and noncheese value-added dairy product development such as cottage cheese, yogurt,
sour cream, kefr, etc., and nonfood dairy-based products. Marketing strategies should be for both in-state consumption and export and
include terroir/taste of place content and case studies of success stories. Ads for Vermont dairy products, and their origin stories, should
be regularly placed in related industry and tourist publications.
Produce Processing
Increase opportunities for local producers to access
existing local retail markets and institutions and
develop new markets.
Support regional food centers in the development of food aggregation centers for small to medium-size producers, coordinated with
an appropriately scaled distribution plan and network.
Inventory existing food processing facilities or commercial kitchens in Vermont able to serve smaller early-stage producers interested in
value-added processing.
Evaluate the additional capacity needs for incubator and value-added processing facilities for smaller and early-stage producers.
Maximize opportunities for local producers to
provide lightly processed fruits and vegetables to
existing institutional wholesale markets.
Conduct a feasibility study for a medium- to large-scale fruit and vegetable processing facility specifcally to serve institutional markets.
The study would include the amount and types of product needed to meet demand, viable price points, the number of production
acres needed per product, the facility service area, the number of facilities needed in Vermont, facility operation issues and fnancing,
etc.
34
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Produce Processing
Improve producer access to all types of markets,
but primarily larger institutional markets, through
the creation or expansion of aggregation points in
the state (services include product consolidation,
sorting, storage, packing, delivery, follow-up /
relationship maintenance).
Review maps of existing sites of food aggregation and related functions and coordinate with regional food centers and other available
assessments to identify the best geographic regions and sites for additional private or farmer cooperativeowned aggregation facilities.
Criteria for site selection should include an adequate concentration of farmers/producers for a predictable supply and potential
participation as managers and owners; an adequate concentration of consumers of raw and processed product; strong local interest
and a committed organization or set of individuals in the area with adequate expertise and a capacity and willingness to develop and
manage the facility and develop strategic partnerships with consumers, including retail market outlets, institutional purchasers, and
distributors; proximity to existing related physical infrastructure that could be use; and fnancial viability.
Coordinate with regional food centers and other committed organizations to develop replication materials for new food aggregation
hubs in Vermont to learn from and build on models such as Deep Root Cooperative, Intervale Food Hub, and the CISA model in western
Massachusetts and the Tuscarora Organic Growers Cooperative in the Mid-Atlantic region. Replication materials would include a
business model for aggregation and collective marketing to ensure proftable price points for farmers and buyers.
Meat Processing
By 2020, signifcant increases in slaughter capacity
and meat cutting quality will contribute to the
proftability of livestock producers and slaughter-
house owners, as well as increased access to locally
grown meat for local and regional consumers.
In addition to existing slaughterhouses, two new slaughterhouses (in underserved areas of the state); one new, privately operated,
small ruminant mobile slaughterhouse; and three signifcantly expanded existing slaughterhouses will be operating in Vermont by
2020. This expanded plant capacity would provide for the slaughter of 20,000 beef animals, 4,200 lambs, and 4,200 hogs annually,
with 10% of the meat processed being sold to Vermont institutions and food processors.
Develop a publicly funded, low-interest loan program for capital improvements to new and existing slaughterhouses, which could
include the development of satellite processing sites and additional on-site storage to maximize the use of kill foor capacity.
Encourage the use of itinerant slaughterers for
on-farm slaughter of animals raised for home use.
By 2015, a majority of animals raised for home use
or direct sales from the farm will be slaughtered by
itinerant slaughterers or in custom-exempt plants
(defnitions in Appendix E).
Provide business assistance to itinerant slaughterers and custom exempt plants to help them improve their services and overall
proftability.
Conduct outreach and education to livestock producers who raise animals for home use or direct sales from the farm, to increase
their awareness and use of itinerant slaughterers and custom-exempt plants and to determine the demand for itinerant slaughterers
and custom-exempt plants.
Encourage the development and improvement of custom-exempt slaughter plants through competitive grants and training programs.
35
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Meat Processing
By 2015, the cost of slaughterhouse operations
will have decreased, on average, by 10% through
energy efciency and risk management process
improvements.
Provide access to technical assistance and funding to address energy efciency opportunities for Vermont slaughterhouses and meat
processing plants (e.g., Efciency Vermont and USDA Rural Development-REAP grants).
Develop risk management training (similar to the program developed for Vermont dairy producers) to reduce insurance premiums.
Explore the potential of pooled liability insurance.
Sales and Distribution Strategies
improvements.
Encourage VAAFM, the Vermont Fresh Network, and other related organizations to host at least four matchmaking opportunities
among producers, institutions, and retailers annually, located in diferent regions of the state. Invite market outlets from Boston, New
York, southern Quebec, funded by both producer and buyer registration and sponsorship fees.
Explore building matchmaker functions into non-Vermont-based events that nevertheless draw Vermont producers (e.g., the Big E) in
addition to inviting buyers into Vermont.
Support initiatives (e.g., funding, feasibility studies) between enterprises within the same supply chain to explore and capitalize on
cooperation opportunities, such as new product development.
Develop an online information portal, clearinghouse, or food system atlas to connect food system stakeholders with information,
resources, online markets, and Farm to Plate Strategic Plan documents.
Identify, coordinate, and expand existing brokers, sourcers, or local food coordinator positions. Identify where these positions cur-
rently exist and then expand the number of staf within private sector producers and distributors, nonproft organizations, schools,
institutions, and government entities, so that local and regional markets become more available to local producers.
Technical Assistance and Business Planning Strategies
Dairy Processing
improvements.
Maintain and expand technical assistance and regulatory oversight as needed to ensure the production of high-quality milk and
processed dairy products from Vermont dairy farms.
Support a system of safety and quality standards, and provide assistance when problems arise.
36
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Dairy Processing
More Vermont dairy processors will be able to
access oferings at the Vermont Institute for
Artisan Cheese and other high-level tech assistance
to explore value-added processing.
Support the expansion of technical assistance for cheese makers through the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, the Vermont Food
Venture Center, the VHCB Farm Viability Program, and the Vermont Pasture Network.
Identify resources and incentives to support education classes for producers and value-added product entrepreneurs.
Develop a scholarship fund through the Vermont Cheese Council for Vermont cheese makers to take production, marketing, and other
types of continuing education classes.
Continue and expand the current work of the Vermont Cheese Council and the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese to provide marketing
and food safety training and technical assistance to Vermont cheese producers.
Meat Processing
Use gourmet chefs and livestock producers to
inventory existing high-end, high-quality meat
cutters and butchers to ensure an adequate supply
of trained personnel to serve the high-end regional
meat market.
Once formed, the Vermont meat industry council should assess and make recommendations for increasing the number of high-end
meat cutting professionals to serve gourmet and high-end producers and restaurant and other retail markets.
Establish technical assistance and training programs for skilled meat cutters and butchers through NECI, Vermont Technical College,
and appropriate high school career and technical education centers.
Use existing business advisory services (e.g.,
Vermont Small Business Development Center,
Peer to Peer Collaborative, Vermont Manufacturing
Extension Center, Farm Viability Enhancement
Program) to work with existing slaughter and
meat processing businesses to improve their
overall business operations and fnancial bottom
line.
Provide free business assessments for each slaughter and meat processing plant to determine the potential of each facility to improve
proftability, and provide a recommended work plan for each facility owner.
For those slaughterhouse owners interested in improving the proftability of their operations, provide low-cost business advisors
(foundation or publically funded) to work with them over a two-year period to make identifed process and infrastructure improve-
ments. Provide ongoing monitoring and evaluate process improvement results over a fve- year period.
Assist slaughterhouse owners in accessing funding for needed capacity improvements, such as additional storage, to maximize total
usage of the plant (i.e. year-round full capacity).
Produce Processing
provide lightly processed fruits and vegetables
to existing local retail markets (to be included
in the overall percentage increase in local food
consumption).
Provide technical assistance and access to the right match of capital to farmers, as needed, who want to ramp up their production
scale to serve institutional markets with lightly processed fruits and vegetables.
37
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Produce Processing
provide lightly processed fruits and vegetables
to existing local retail markets (to be included
in the overall percentage increase in local food
consumption).
Coordinate with the Agricultural Development Board, regional food centers, the VAAFM, and the Department of Economic
Development to release an RFP to conduct the next stage of feasibility study for a light processing facility specifcally for larger-scale,
institutional markets.
Identify ingredient demand and price points for particularly products destined for the processed food markets.
Increase the amount of Vermont-grown fruits
and vegetables that are used in value-added food
manufacturing.
Work with members of the Vermont Specialty Food Association to identify which raw inputs are used in greatest quantities and
identify a group of growers who would be interested in working with these specialty food producers to provide these inputs at a price
point that works for both the grower and the food producer.
Grain Processing
Increase the availability of Vermont-grown grains
in retail and wholesale outlets.
Conduct an inventory of the variety of grain milling facilities existing or being considered in Vermont, and analyze the possibility of
a collaboration with Maine (e.g., new Somerset Grist Mill in Skowhegan), New Hampshire (e.g., Littleton Grist Mill), New York (e.g.,
Champlain Valley Milling Corp.), and Quebec. Identify the processing gaps and expansion interests of grist mill owners and plans for
other local millers of various sizes.
Coordinate with the Northern Grain Growers Association, grain farmers, and leading bakeries and artisan bread makers committed to
local ingredients to develop strategic partnerships and identify a specifc focus on various types and volumes of grains and processing
needs to meet all or a percentage of market demand.
Inventory and increase infrastructure for combining, cleaning, and storing grain. Determine the next steps in developing mobile grain
harvesting and processing opportunities, and consider the cooperative ownership of equipment and infrastructure.
Assess and develop a budget for organic and conventional grain growing and milling as opportunities for farm diversifcation.
Use existing movement data from food co-ops and other retail outlets to learn which grains have the highest consumer demand.
Identify packaging sizes to maximize consumer purchasing.
Determine the quantity and types of grains that producers of grain products need.
Increase access to local grains for value-added
artisan grain products and for the beer-making
industry.
Assemble a group of independent value-added artisan producers and microbreweries committed to local ingredients to identify their
specifc grain processing needs (quantity, quality, form, etc.).
38
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Grain Processing
Increase access to local grains for value-added
artisan grain products and for the beer-making
industry.
Identify and fnd ways to support the expansion interests of owners of microbreweries and value-added grain product companies.
Support farm viability through improved technical assistance for animal- and human-grade grain production and processing for on-
farm use.
Based on an inventory and feasibility analysis, develop a commercial grain-milling facility within a viable distance to Vermont grain
growers; consider a collaboration with Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Southern Quebec grain growers and millers.
Provide funding for programs that encourage knowledge transfer from successful Quebec-based organic grain milling company.
Provide workshops, tours, and mentorship opportunities to farmers interested in grain growing and milling.
As conditions warrant, UVM Extension should provide additional technical assistance to the grain grower community.
General
Maximize opportunities for value-added process-
ing through appropriate technical assistance and
business planning services.
UVM should once again be an active participant in the Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship (NECFE; a partnership with Cor-
nell) to bring related services to Vermont food entrepreneurs.
Provide funding support to the Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC) for ongoing professional development services to start-up value-
added producers.
Ensure that food safety trainings (GAP, HAACP) are available throughout the continuum of food processing enterprises (incubator, co-
pack facilities, commercial kitchens) via UVM Extension, VFVC, and the VHCB Farm Viability Program. Use the expertise of existing food
processing professionals who are doing business in Vermont and out of state.
Provide marketing and business skills training for farmers and food processors, concentrating on kitchen-ready products for the
restaurant and institutional market.
Provide specialized technical assistance to wineries, breweries, meaderies, etc., to help them ensure a consistent quality product,
navigate the regulatory landscape, and develop or identify local ingredient sources.
Increase production and infrastructure capacity
and provide technical assistance for the develop-
ment of on-farm lightly processed and value-added
products.
Use the fndings from the RAFFL and Vermont FEED processing feasibility studies, and other data, to identify markets for, and deter-
mine the viability of, an enterprise model for on-farm light processing and value-added product development.
Provide enhanced technical assistance to farm and food producers in the areas of marketing, sales, fnancing, and scaling up to serve
larger institutional customers and regional markets. Assistance should be based on their current stage of business and their desired
type and scale of operation.
39
OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
Education Strategies
Vermont slaughterhouses and meat processors
will have access to an appropriate pool of skilled,
trained workers.
Work with practitioners and successful farmers to design a training format and curriculum suited to existing and emerging Vermont
farm and food enterprise models. Include regional technical education centers and culinary programs in the training.
In conjunction with the Workforce Investment Board, an exhaustive list of meat science schools, certifcate programs, and college
programs will be developed by 2012 for distribution to Vermont high schools, slaughterhouse owners, and livestock producers for the
dual purpose of increasing the awareness of meat science educational opportunities and increasing access to potential employees.
A collective efort will be conducted by appropriate Vermont private and public colleges, vocational career centers, slaughterhouse
owners, livestock producers, the Agency of Agriculture, and other interested parties to explore the development of degree or certif-
cate programs for meat science in Vermont. Alternatively, a formalized mechanism will be developed to increase Vermonters access
to existing programs in other parts of the country.
Conduct a feasibility study of locating a full-service training center for livestock production, slaughter, processing, cutting, and marketing
at a new slaughter or processing facility in an underserved region.
Develop training programs for itinerant slaughterers through existing high school career and technical education centers to increase
the number and geographic distribution of itinerant slaughterers in the state.
Regulation Strategies
Improve access to information regarding GAP and
HACCP requirements so that farmers and food
entrepreneurs have the tools they need to make
informed decisions regarding expanded marketing
opportunities and value-added processing.
Establish an online guide and a regulatory ombudsman to help prospective food processors determine the regulatory paths they need
to follow, keep the guide up to date, and analyze proposed changes to food regulations.
Increase and improve the food safety training ofered through UVM Extension, the Vermont Food Venture Center, and regional food
hubs.
Working with the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association and UVM Extension, increase producer understanding of the
regulatory framework imposed through the GAPs, and customize a certifcation process geared toward Vermont-based producers.
Ensure that producers are knowledgeable about regulatory and insurance requirements and all procurement (case ready) specifcations
of all market outlets prior to attempting to serve those markets.
Provide farmers and aggregators with information about all regulatory, insurance, food safety, and procurement specifcations for each
type and scale of regional market outlet including institutional buyers.
40
End Notes
1 Vermont Department of Labor, QCEW, 2010, frst quarter.
2 As of September, 2010; Status of the Dairy Industry; obtained from Diane Bothfeld,
VAAFM, September 30, 2010.
3 http://brewersvt.com/vba
4 Vermont Grape and Wine Council, www.vermontgrapeandwinecouncil.com/our-members
5 2007 Economic Census; This industry group comprises establishments primarily engaged
in (1) baking bread and other bakery products on the premises, not for immediate
consumption, fresh or frozen; (2) manufacturing cookies, crackers, and dry pasta; and (3)
manufacturing tortillas. Also included here are manufacturers that produce frozen cakes,
pies, donuts, and other pastries, as well as four and mixed dough.
6 The following section is a summary of more detailed information that can be found in
Appendix E.
7 Westminster Farms does poultry slaughter and processing in addition to red meat slaugh-
ter and processing
8 The mobile poultry unit does only slaughter, no processing.
9 The Westminster Farms facility is counted twice.
10 The Westminster Farms facility is counted twice.
11 www.vermontagriculture.com/news/2009/FarmSlaughterAmendment.pdf
12 Vermont State Statute, Title 6, Chapter 204, 6 V.S.A. 3310.
13 Andrew Rauch and Jef S. Sharp, Ohioans Attitudes about Animal Welfare: A Topical
Report from the 2004 Ohio Survey of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Issues, 2004,
http://ohiosurvey.osu.edu/pdf/2004_Animal_report.pdf.
14 Jason Lusk, F. Bailey Norwood, and Robert W. Prickett, Consumer Preferences for Farm
Animal Welfare: Results of a Nationwide Telephone Survey, Oklahoma State University, 2007,
http://asp.okstate.edu/baileynorwood/AW2/InitialReporttoAFB.pdf.
15 A. Barrionuevo, Pork Producer Says It Plans to Give Pigs More Room, The New York
Times, January 26, 2007.
16 Market Watch, Survey Shows Shoppers Wont Compromise on Food Quality Despite
Economic Times, 2008, www.thefreelibrary.com/Survey+Shows+Shoppers+Wont+Compro
mise+on+Food+Quality+Despite...-a0183865392.
17 www.certifedhumane.org/index.php?page=where-to-buy
18 www.animalwelfareapproved.org/category/family-farms/northeast
19 D. N. DSouza, F. R. Dunshea, R. D. Warner, and B. J. Leury. The Efect of Handling Pre-
Slaughter and Carcass Processing Rate Post-Slaughter on Pork Quality, Meat Science, 50 (4)
(1998): 429-437.
20 P. H. Hemsworth et al., The Efects of Fear of Humans and Pre-Slaughter Handling on
the Meat Quality of Pigs, Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 53 (2002): 493-501.
21 M. D. Gurdia et al., Risk Assessment of PSE Condition Due to Pre-Slaughter Conditions
and RYR1 Gene in Pigs, Meat Science, 67 (2004): 471-478.
22 S. L. Gruber, J. D. Tatum, T. E. Engle, P. L. Chapman, K. E. Belk, and G. C. Smith, Relation-
ships of Behavioral and Physiological Symptoms of Preslaughter Stress to Beef Longissimus
Muscle Tenderness, Journal of Animal Science, 88 (3) (2010): 1148-1159.
23 Temple Grandin (ed.), Livestock Handling and Transport, 3rd ed. (Wallingford, UK: CAB
International, 2007, p. 8).
24 J. K. Apple, M. E. Dikeman, J. E. Minton, et al., Efects of Restraint and Isolation Stress
and Epidural Blockade on Endocrine and Blood Metabolite Status, Muscle Glycogen
Metabolism, and Incidence of Dark-Cutting Longissimus Muscle of Sheep, Journal of Animal
Science, 73 (1995): 2295-2307.
25 Temple Grandin (ed.), Livestock Handling and Transport, 3rd ed. (Wallingford, UK: CAB
International, 2007, pp. 6-7).
26 T. G. Knowles, A Review of the Road Transport of Cattle, Veterinary Record, 144 (1999):
197-201.
27 Grandin, pp. 329-353.
28 Animalhandling.org, Frequently Asked Questions, www.animalhandling.org/ht/d/Faqs/
pid/26755 (October 6, 2010).
29 Animal Welfare Approved, Animal Welfare Approved Policy Manual, www.animalwel-
fareapproved.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/AWA-Policy-Manual-2010.pdf.
30 Diane Bothfeld, Deputy Secretary, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets,
2010.
31 MacDonald, James M. et al., Profts, Costs, and the Changing Structure of Dairy Farming,
ERR-47, USDA Economic Research Service, 2007, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/
ERR47/.
32 A smaller state, Maine, also had an in-state system, but much of the focus was on milk
that traveled among Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
33 E-mail exchange with UVM MBA student, Christopher Lenox, May 26, 2010.
41
34 Jane Sakovitz-Dale, Vermont Farmstead Cheese Marketing Study, 2006, www.vhcb.org/
pdfs/farmsteadcheesereport.pdf.
35 Ibid.
36 Interview with Read Miller, Dwight Miller Orchards, July 12, 2010.
37 Steve Paddock, Feasibility Study and Enterprise Business Plan for Processing and
Marketing Vermont-Grown Fruits and Vegetables to Vermont Schools, Deep Root Organic
Truck Farmers Cooperative Inc. and Vermont SBDC, November 23, 2009.
38 Interview with Barney Hodges, co-owner of Vermont Refrigerated Storage, September
2010.
39 Regional Food Centers Collaborative, unpublished action plan (2009).
40 The Vermont Food Venture Center has also served the needs of non-farm-based
entrepreneurs interested in creating specialty products such as salsa, jams and jellies, and
spicy sauces.
41 Interview with Travis Marcotte, executive director, Intervale Center, October 11, 2010.
42 Regional Food Centers Collaborative, unpublished action plan (2009).
43 Interview with Jef Mitchell, principal, Green Mountain Co-Pack, December 2009.
44 This section written with editing assistance from Dr. Heather Darby, UVM Extension.
45 Exerpted from the VAAFMs 2010 Request for Proposals for the Agriculture Innovation
Demonstration Center.
46 Interview with Jefrey Hammelman, Baking Director, King Arthur Flour, October 9, 2010.
47 Faye Conte, An Overview of Mobile Agricultural Units in Vermont and Insight from Projects
around the Country, May 13, 2010. Unpublished.
48 VAAFM study, with assistance from the Center for Rural Studies and Dan Erickson
(unpublished).
49 Research conducted by a UVM senior seminar in business administration; results
posted at: www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/publications/Cabot_VDTM.pdf.
42
Credits
3.4 Food Processing and Manufacturing was prepared by Helen Labun Jordan,
Scott Sawyer, Ellen Kahler, Kit Perkins, and Doug Hofer.
Special thanks to Dr. Heather Darby for reviewing the grain production section. Thanks
to Carrie Abels and Local Banquet for supplying two vignettes, and to Mollie Wills and
William Robb for writing vignettes about Olivias Croutons and the Intervale Food Hub.
Maps: Dan Erickson, Advanced Geospatial Systems, LLC
Copyediting: Patsy Fortney
Layout and Design: Katie-Marie Rutherford, www.katierutherford.com and Scott Sawyer
For more information:
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
www.vsjf.org/project-details/5/farm-to-plate-initiative
3 Pitkin Court, Suite 301E
Montpelier, VT 05602
[email protected]
The information contained in 3.4 Food Processing and Manufacturing maps was derived from a
variety of sources. Advanced Geospatial Systems, LLC (AGS) compiled these maps, using data
considered to be accurate; however, a degree of error is inherent in all maps. While care was
taken in the creation of this product, it is provided as is without warranties of any kind, either
expressed or implied. AGS, the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund or any of the data providers
cannot accept any responsibility for errors, omissions, or positional accuracy in the maps or their
underlying records. These maps are for informational purposes only.
ANALYSIS OF VERMONTS FOOD SYSTEM
Food Processing and
Manufacturing

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