Ten years after starting to plan Mad River Food Hub and after eight years of supporting local food and beverage producers, Mad River Food Hub’s founder and owner, Robin Morris, is seeking to transfer the facility and operations to a new owner.
“The Food Hub has been a great experience, working with new and emerging business owners over the last decade, and it’s time to pass the baton to a new owner,” said Morris. “The plan is to get up a little later in the mornings and address new ideas challenging Vermont’s agriculture and food economy,” he added
The new owner must be committed to continuing to support the community’s local producers either by continuing the current business model or finding a new direction that continues to support the local food economy. The new owner can be an individual, an existing business, a business cooperative or a nonprofit.
“The Mad River Food Hub fills an important need supporting and incubating new and existing food businesses in our community and offering cold storage to our farmers and processors,” said Morris. “As a recipient of multiple federal and state grants over the years, we have developed this RFP process to ensure that the facility continues to support our existing clients and community.”
The RFP (request for proposal) process will focus on proposals that continue the operation, focus on economic sustainability, are well adapted to markets for food and/or beverage products, and will contribute to the local economy. The RFP process being used was initially developed by land trusts to find new farmers for conserved farms.
Mad River Taste Place, which was opened in 2017, offers Mad River Food Hub clients an outlet for their products and access to the training and conference rooms. The Taste Place will continue to be managed by Mary Tuthill and owned by Robin and Jenny Morris, Waitsfield.
Mad River Food Hub has assisted over 200 local food and beverage businesses in the last eight years including Awake Coffee, Babette’s Table, Gaylord Farm, Green Mountain Harvest, Green Rabbit Bakery, Joe’s Soups, Knoll Farm, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Mad River Distillers, Ploughgate Creamery, Tin Hat Cider, von Trapp Farmstead, VT Dog Eats, VT Bean Crafters, VT Raw, VT Salumi and VT Yak.
Anyone interested in reviewing and responding to the RFP can contact Morris by email,
