Restaurants and Institutions

Dennis Lombardi

The Locavores are Coming
August 19, 2008

You have probably heard about Locavores, but not likely to have given it much thought.  Well, from my viewpoint, its time to put on the thinking cap.

Locavores, if you are not familiar with the word, came into existence only a few years ago.  It refers to people who prefer to eat locally grown food.  The definition of local varies, but usually caps out around 200 miles or so.  Likewise, the strength of consumers’ preference for local foods also varies. But one thing is clear, local sourcing will continue to get more and more important to both consumers and operators.

Several factors are driving this preference for locally produced foods.

• First, consumers also equate local foods with being fresher and “better-for-me”.  This may (or may not) be true, but if the consumer feels this way and it impacts their purchase decisions then their perceptions, not facts, are what matter.
• Next is the “carbon-footprint” or “food-miles” factor.  For consumers, this has to do with feeling better about consuming less energy in the farm-to-fork process.  For operators, shipping costs can be lower, narrowing the gap between local and global/institutional food sourcing.
• Third is the food fear factor, which sadly is growing and is likely to continue to increase with each new episode of contaminated foods. Consumers equate local foods with being safer as a result of recent problems with non-local and especially imported foods.

The desire and demand for local foods can be seen in a growing number of large mainstay chains like Wal-Mart and Krogers.  The grocery chains are seeing the same signs in consumers as we see in restaurants. As they promote local foods, the awareness and interest from restaurant customers will increase.

Clearly there is more complexity in sourcing local foods than going through your favorite distributor and less assurance of availability, but the rewards for your efforts are increasing with each new Locavore.

There is an opportunity here for independents and smaller chains to use this as a niche against the large national brands. Using and promoting locally grown produce may be a good tactic to help build both traffic and profits. 

You should think hard about catering to Locavores, there will more and more of them in the years ahead.

Posted by Dennis Lombardi on August 19, 2008 | Comments (1)