Husk Announces Food Incubator
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGreenfield-based Husk LLC has introduced Farm League, a local food incubator. Husk says two Indiana companies have joined the program and will benefit from increased distribution and mass production capacity.
February 2, 2015
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In just 18 months, Greenfield-based food startup Husk, LLC has placed its line of locally-grown frozen vegetables in over 300 grocery stores and supermarkets around the Midwest and partnered with nationwide distributors. Now, Husk hopes to lead a new wave of food startups down the trail that they have blazed. The mission of Husk’s “Farm League” is to incubate local, value-added food startups using Husk’s existing competencies in both manufacturing as well as distribution.
“The trend toward local food is incredibly strong right now,” said Nick Carter, president and co-founder of Husk. “We can see that the market is under-supplied and we want to help as many new companies meet the growing demand for local options as possible.” Carter first started down this past last year when he began an informal meeting of local food entrepreneurs. The need for an incubator service like Farm League arose from those discussions.
“The timing could not be better for this kind of food business incubator program in Indiana,” commented David King, Local Foods Program Manager for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. “Husk’s initiative and leadership in this area is a big boon for the up-and-coming Indiana Grown initiative and for our local agriculture growth in general.”
To date, two companies have joined the Farm League. Brooke’s Naturals of Dana, IN produces a line of gluten free baking mixes. Urban Ladle of Carmel, IN produces a line of frozen soups that feature ingredients from Husk, as well as other local suppliers such as Tyner Pond Farm and Moody’s Butcher Shops. As Farm League members, both of these companies are utilizing both Husk’s manufacturing capacity to increase their production as well as Husk’s marketing reach to increase their sale.
Husk will add points of distribution among local grocers and independent specialty shops for Farm League member companies. Ultimately, the goal is to grow food startups through the Farm League to a level that they can supply the larger distributors and grocery chains that Husk currently supplies. Often times that growth will require added manufacturing capacity as well, which Husk is prepared to provide.
“We have built a trust with our retailers by bringing them a unique, local product that their customers have been wanting,” says Mary Bratcher, Sales & Marketing Manager at Husk. “We plan to build on those relationships by introducing more and more local food options.”
To learn more about the Husk Farm League, visit www.huskfoods.com/farm-league.
Source: Husk LLC