Summer is upon us! Early sunrises, chirping birds in full leafy trees, children splashing and laughing at the pool, and, of course, all kinds of wonderful fresh produce coming off of the fields. In a few days, many of us will get together with friends and family to BBQ, relax and later enjoy fireworks as we celebrate our nation and liberty on the 4th of July.

It is an especially busy time for the team at SOURCE - and an especially exciting one!

We are continuing to build and expand our offerings, our network of producers and buyers, and our distribution platform. With just over two years of operating history behind us, and thinking about the two years ahead, the team and I are very engaged in understanding and developing what sets SOURCE apart from many of the other larger distributor options in the marketplace.

And, we are getting a lot of feedback from our customers and suppliers on this very question!

It is becoming increasingly clear that, although SOURCE isn't geared to be the lowest-cost, high-volume distributor like a UNFI ($7 billion/year) or a Sysco ($45 billion/year), we are uniquely designed to deliver value in multiple ways to our stakeholders. We provide market access to emerging and growing farmers and food producers - market access that often isn't otherwise attainable. Moreover, we also have an incredibly talented and dedicated sales force that functions much like food brokers in the natural foods industry - getting products in front of buyers and placed in retail and food service establishments throughout the region. We're also making and enriching connections among producers, chefs and retailers throughout the region - organizing and hosting events like the 2nd annual Farmers Market at the Chefs Club by Food & Wine in Aspen. This event provided 12 local producers with access to a number of industry titans - from food buyers to food writers (NY Times) to celebrity chefs like Andrew Zimmerman having fun with Jill Latham and her team from Vibrant Earth Juice! In her words, "we were able to meet significant beverage buyers, introduce our product to a great demographic, and even meet a celebrity chef that loved our juices!"

Of course, driving all of this is an increasingly savvy consumer base that is seeking quality and value from all of us in the system, not just seeking the lowest cost version of any particular food or beverage choice. As the SOURCE team continues delivering more and more value and quality service to our stakeholders, it is an honor to be building sustainable food systems within our local community and throughout the Colorado region.

Have a wonderful 4th with your loved ones, and, as always...

May the SOURCE Be with YOU!

Aaron

CEO & Chief Fungi

June was bountiful with greens from several of our key farmers.  Arugula, baby chard and baby lettuce mix continue to be harvested from Ollin Farms.  Baby mustard, baby red Russian kale and mizuna greens come to us from Arkansas Valley Growers Organic. The heads of green leaf and red leaf from Milberger Farms are of great size and consistency.  Full Circle Farms brings us local, organic romaine and spinach by the bunch.  Organic bunch beets and baby red and chiogga beets are here, with tasty tops for sautéing.  Baby carrots from our friends at Arkansas Valley Growers Organic are available in both orange and purple varieties.

   

As July is quick upon us, we look forward to first harvests of zucchini, yellow squash, baby leeks, endive, kohlrabi, cabbage and kale.  The first fruits from Colorado's western slope orchards will emerge including peaches, apricots, plums and cherries.  Melons and sweet corn are on the brink.

We continue our food hub relationship with Veritable Vegetable meeting their trucks with ours in Southern Colorado to do a product exchange.  While they head back to California with wonderful Colorado produce, we are able to bring other organic, produce items to our customers, that typically don't grow in our Colorado climate.  Examples include mangoes, avocados, Valencia oranges, lemons, limes and dates.  As our produce partnerships continue to grow, if you're looking for something, please ask your sales rep and we'll work hard to try and source it for you.

Be sure to watch for our weekly product list updates which reflect live produce updates as more crops are harvested. You can also check out a fantastic overview of month-by-month projected Colorado produce on our Produce Availability Calendar. 

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