New outlet rides farm-to-table trend

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/09/2017 (3179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg couple has opened a year-round indoor farmers market in the city to further tap into the growing popularity of locally produced food.

The new store, called Fresh Local Fare, is a scaled-down, brick-and-mortar version of the online grocery store (myfarmersmarket.com) that Christina Dubuc and Nathan Steele have been operating for the past four years.

Like their online store, the new retail outlet at 2145 Portage Ave. sells mainly Manitoba-grown or Manitoba-made food items. That includes things like pasture-raised beef, pork, chicken, buffalo and lamb; locally grown grains, fruits and vegetables; and locally made jams, jellies, mustards, baked goods and pastries.

They buy their products from about 70 local producers, many of whom also sell their goods at seasonal farmers markets in and around the city.

“If you go to the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market, you’re going to see many of our producers there,” Dubuc said. “But we are like a year-round farmers market. In winter, we have indoor growers as well, so we’re able to carry greens year-round that are local.”

Dubuc said although most of their suppliers are not certified organic farmers, they follow organic-farming practices.

“They don’t use sprays or pesticides or anything like that, and they don’t give antibiotics to their animals.”

One of their local suppliers is Prairie Quinoa. Owner Percy Phillips supplies them with quinoa grain which he grows on a farm near Portage la Prairie. He said he’s one of only two Manitoba farmers growing the grain, which originated in South America.

Phillips said he has been selling quinoa to the couple’s online store since last December. He hopes having it also available in their new retail store will boost public awareness of the grain, which is most commonly used as a substitute for rice, but can also be made into flakes and flour.

“My goal as a company is to establish a local quinoa industry here in Manitoba,” he said.

While the majority of their products are locally sourced, Dubuc said they do carry some imported products.

“What we can’t get here in Manitoba, like bananas and fruits like that, we will order in. But we always make sure it’s organic. We’re a local and organic (food) store.”

She describes their prices as competitive compared with those found in most mainstream grocery stores.

“I’m not saying we’re ‘cheap’ cheap, but I don’t think we’re super expensive. I think we’re pretty reasonable. But we’re not Walmart, that’s for sure.”

She said as far as they know, they’re the city’s first farmers market featuring mainly local products that’s open all year round. It was at the urging of some of their customers that they decided to open a storefront outlet to complement their online operation.

“A lot of people were calling (the online store) and asking us if they could come in and shop, and we had to say no because we’re not set up for that, But finally we figured, we have the space, so why not (open a storefront outlet).”

Their new store operates out of the front of the building they lease, and their online store operates out of the back. Dubuc said the storefront outlet is about the size of a typical corner grocery store, or maybe a little bigger.

Although it doesn’t have as many products on display as the online store, “if someone asks for something (that’s not on the store shelves), we just go and grab it from the back.”

She said their online store has enjoyed slow and steady growth since it opened. The brick-and-mortar store has also done well since it opened about three weeks ago.

“We had a soft opening just to test it out and we’ve done zero advertising. It’s all been from foot traffic and people just walking in.”

The new store’s grand opening is on Saturday, and Dubuc said there are no plans at the moment to open any more storefront outlets in the city.

“We’ll have to see how it goes. Maybe one day.”

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca