Hey Farm Friends!

Thanks for your interest in collaborating with Happy Kitchen Farm. Next year, I’m shifting from CSA boxes to meal kits where all the ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest. Since I’m not able to grow everything myself, I’m hoping to partner with and purchase from other farmers and food producers in the area.

In addition to using all locally grown food, I really want to feature the people who grow the food for our community. Your stories will be part of the meal kit, too, and will help customers feel connected to our local food system.

Each week, May through October, Happy Kitchen Farm customers can order a seasonally themed meal kit (along with other add-ons, like salsa kits and culinary herbs). Based on the number of orders, I’d then reach out to partnering local farmers to purchase any needed produce. There are some harvesting and transportation logistics to still figure out (see below), but I hope to make this a smooth process for you all.

Please note that this will be a pretty small first year. Mostly, I just want to test the business model and get the systems in place so that we can scale up in the future.

Here are some additional details. If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out!

  • Any of these, and especially the bolded ones: cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumbers, gai lan, garlic, ginger, yellow onion, red onion, peas, potatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, radicchio, radishes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, dried spices.

    I also love specialty ingredients, like kale blossoms and garlic scapes.

    Finally, if you’re passionate about growing a particular crop and want to really promote that, let me know!

  • My goal for this first summer is 30-50 meal kits a week. I’d order enough to fill the meal kits (plus more as a buffer), e.g., 60 yellow onions, 60 heads of garlic, 60 potatoes, etc.

    I don’t expect to order from every participating farm every week. My intent is to support as many local farms as I can, rather than have an exclusive grow contract with one farm.

    That said, this will be a dynamic partnership; if you have a crop that needs to be harvested, I want to know that so I can adjust the recipes and meal kits accordingly.

  • Given my anticipated small purchase orders, I trust you to charge what works best for your farm business. If that’s wholesale, great!, if not, it’s not a dealbreaker.

    I’m currently applying for a cash buyer license and would pay you immediately upon receiving any produce.

  • It depends. I’m still figuring this one one and would need to work with each farmer to come up with a system that works efficiently for all parties.

    Here’s the current model I’m considering. It’s based on a two-week operations cycle:

    • Monday: I reach out to farmers to see what’s in season and getting close to harvest. I then determine which meal kit recipe to use

    • Friday: I announce the upcoming meal kit to customers and open up the website for orders

    • Sunday: Deadline for customers to place orders

    • Monday: I reach out to farmers to order any needed produce

    • Wednesday: Produce delivered or ready for pick-up

    • Thursday: I package the meal kits

    • Friday: I deliver the meal kits

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