Working With Zone 7 | Buying Produce From Zone 7 | Selling Produce To Zone 7 | Jobs
To Start:
We work exclusively with local growers throughout New Jersey and Eastern PA and are always eager to develop new relationships.
We work with growers of all shapes and sizes. We buy from some year-round and others only occasionally. In fact, we're not the primary outlet for most of our farms. Many of our growers sell through farmers' markets, farmsteads, or CSAs. For those growers with their busiest market days generally towards the end of the week and on the weekend, our goal is to take smaller farms' "early week" harvest.
We want to work with farmers growing high-quality products using organic and sustainable methods. Our customers care about how things are grown and they ask us. We emphasize the agricultural practices that our growers use.
This page is intended to give those interested in working with us the basics of how we do things: the schedule, shipping and transportation, packaging and labeling, pricing and payment. Get in touch if you'd like to learn more. Call (609) 443-1772 or email freshfromzone7@gmail.com.
The schedule:
We talk to our growers twice a week to find out what's available from them and then to communicate what we sold and need from them.
We need to know what products are available, how much is available, and how it will be packed and priced. We take this forecasting very seriously and generally ask growers to be conservative in their estimates because if we sell it the customer expects to receive it.
After we've talked to all the growers we put together an availability list and email this to our customers. We also send out updates when fresh additions become available unexpectedly. We ask that our customers place their orders by Monday at 3 p.m. so that we can tally the orders and inform our growers asap what we need from them the following day.
Shipping and Transportation:
We can pick up your products or you can send them to us at our location in Hightstown. Growers that deliver their own products helps us in a tremendous way and we are eager to provide incentives to make this happen.
We have one primary farm pick-up day, and from week to week we generally like to keep the same schedule of when we arrive at your farm. We are flexible though, being aware that farming isn't the most predictable vocation. Our pick-up schedule also changes with the season, in accordance with the ebb and flow of seasonal availability.
Packaging and Labeling:
Proper packaging and clear labeling is very important; we cannot run an efficient business without it. To work with us we require growers to clearly and legibly label boxes with farm name, the identity of each box's contents, and the quantity. Boxes need to be stackable. Our hope is that a grower's packaging is consistent with and reflects the high quality of his or her product. If you're a small farmer unaccustomed to wholesale packaging, we are happy to advise you.
Farm Identity:
Every product we sell retains its identifying farm origin. Our customers don't receive tomatoes; they receive Muth Family Farm tomatoes, to choose one farm as an example. We think this is important not only for growers but for our customers, many of whom become loyal to specific farms.
Pricing and Payment:
Zone 7 was founded on ensuring the viability of our farms. It's our highest priority to give growers a fair price. We also have to ensure that, as a distributor, we cover our costs of transportation, handling, and marketing. We don't dictate price, but we can only buy from you what we sell. Growers with more aggressive pricing tend to sell more. We are happy to work with you in determining the best and most fair price for your products.
Our preferred payment terms are 30 days. We work with our customers on terms between 14 and 30 days so that we can ensure timely payment of our farms. That said, our farms can expect payment from us at the latest of the 15th of the month for the entire previous month.
