In a year unlike any other, we opened up our Market Mobile local food delivery service to include residential customers. This necessary pivot of extending this service, typically for wholesale buyers, to Rhode Island residents was the best way we could get local eaters connected with the fresh food our local farmers and producers have grown and made.
As we expanded the market Mobile service, we weren’t entirely sure how everything would work out, having never done it before! Yet here we are, seven months later, having surpassed 10,000 orders and over $2 million dollars in sales for local farmers and food producers! All thanks to the you: local farmers, eaters, and wholesale buyers.
As intriguing as these sales numbers are, what’s equally intriguing is the variety of items we delivered out. Of course, there are those items you’d expect to see from an organization whose emblem is a big red tomato: zucchini, eggplant and, well, tomatoes, of course. But through Market Mobile we enable customers to get their hands on some items they might not expect too.
For example, in the past seven months, we have sold $7,455 worth of locally made dog treats for our customers’ furry best friends to chow down on (shout out to our longtime local food partner: Jack’s Snacks, a Dog Bakery!). We also connected our human customers with $8,243 of delicious locally made cookies and pastries to satisfy some sugar cravings too.
And for all our vegan customers out there, we provided over $11,344 worth of vegan cheese. (Way to go, Barrett’s Garden!) We know there are many types of eaters out there and we work with local producers to provide beloved items for all kinds of diets.
But food isn’t the only item our customers ordered this year. Locally made lotions, hanging flower baskets, and even firewood were purchased for home delivery or picked up via our contactless pickup option. It’s been exciting to facilitate direct customer-to-farmer/maker relationships and to provide food, household items — and more importantly, stability — to our community during this trying time. And we look forward to continuing this service.
Whether you are looking to source $14,505 worth of local raspberries (which is the total raspberry sales we facilitated for local farms in the past 10 months, but might be just a little too much for one person) or simply looking for a few essential items, our Market Mobile team is ready to help. Learn more and sign up for Market Mobile.
