Food incubator Hope & Main has launched programs that help members stay afloat during the pandemic while feeding the community. “We’ve always had a community focus,” said Luca Carnevale, executive director of operations for Hope & Main, based in Warren, Rhode Island.
Carnevale discussed the programs during the latest installment of SFA’s Ask the Experts webinar series, moderated by Ron Tanner, vice president of education, government, and industry relations. He spoke with a panel of leaders from community development and academic incubators that also included Sarah Masoni from Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, located in Portland, Oregon, and Diane Holtaway from the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University, located in Piscataway and Bridgeton, New Jersey.
After seeing a greater demand for local products, Hope & Main launched What’s Local Wednesdays, a series of events including member pop-ups and meal distributions for the community. By partnering with a local organization, Hope & Main was able to create the Local Love Bounty Box, a curated box of member products that comes in four different themes such as picnic or barbeque.
The Nourish Our Neighbors program enlists makers with ready-to-eat products to create meals to distribute to the community weekly. Hope & Main pays the members to produce them, which helps those who may not have the revenue otherwise, according to Carnevale. Hope & Main distributes these meals through the local school district, at senior centers, and other community gathering places.
Pivoting for Success
Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center has been closed during the pandemic, but Masoni is still encouraging specialty food makers to innovate during this time. “Change gives us a lot of opportunity to innovate,” she said, “pivoting may be your best alternative in times of change.” Masoni is seeing a lot of brands revisit old ideas while they recalibrate their business. For example, many makers are pivoting to offering portioned and wrapped food items, which have grown in popularity due to the pandemic. Foodservice groups are becoming retailers and offering high-quality produce to consumers that may not have had access to it before.
She also stressed that if a company isn’t set up for e-commerce, they should focus on it now. “There’s no time like the present to get set up with online retailers like Amazon,” she said. Now that face-to-face retail has changed, virtual marketplaces are becoming more commonplace for both consumers and suppliers.
Masoni has also noticed that some companies are offering curated selections of products in pre-packaged boxes, similar to CSAs. “One butcher is making boxes with specialty cut meats,” she said. “It comes with 10 different cuts, perfect for families to throw in the freezer and prepare when they need it.”
Supporting the Community
“We were lucky enough not to have to close down because we qualified as an essential business” said Carnevale of Hope & Main. But that doesn’t mean the incubator hasn’t had to make some changes. “We haven’t allowed any tours and have only allowed members in to produce, and that’s it,” he said.
Like Hope & Main, the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University has stayed open throughout the pandemic. The center has been able to do that through some small policy changes and pivots to its strategy. Most of the center’s employees work from home now; only essential staff are allowed on campus. For those who are still working at the center, Rutgers has implemented a number of policies to keep employees safe, which include social distancing, increased sanitization, required face coverings, and staggered breaks.
To keep day-to-day operations going, the center has become more dependent on virtual interactions. “We’ve figured out how to do virtual food development meetings,” Holtaway said. “Our food safety training, which previously had always been face-to-face, has gone virtual. But we’re making it work.”
Holtaway has observed many members adapt quickly to this new world. “One of our clients was selling to stadiums,” she said. “And now they’ve pivoted to e-commerce now that stadiums have been shut down. And they’re doing very well.” Another member has had to add an additional product line due to increased demand from consumers.
Specialty Food is Still Going Strong
Something all three incubators agree on is that there has been no slow down in the demand for specialty food products. “Maybe there was some difficulties in the first month or so due to supply chain issues,” Masoni said, “but I haven’t heard anyone say they’ve been struggling.”
Carnevale agreed, “Some of our members have had their best sales ever in the past few months.”
“I think the very fact that specialty foods are special helps,” said Holtaway. “People are craving specialness. They need something to indulge in and make them feel better.”
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