Farmer’s Collective in Rhinebeck: A New Outlet For Producers And Consumers
It's a mutually beneficial addition for sellers and buyers in the area, during our current crisis and beyond.
Angela Brandt, Farmer's Collective manager. Photos courtesy Farmer's Collective.
There’s a twist on the farmers market model right in the middle of Rhinebeck, New York that seems to be working beautifully for producers and consumers. The Farmer’s Collective, located on Mill Street across from the Beekman Arms Hotel, is a storefront that offers a place for local and regional farmers and makers to send what they produce on consignment so it can be sold directly to consumers for retail prices.
The store opened on June 26, but the original idea, proposed by the Willem Jan Rote, owner of Coach Farm, was to keep the vaunted goat cheese producer visible with an office in the Hudson Valley since it moved its goats north near Ithaca. Angela Brandt, director of operations for Coach Farm and now manager of the Farmer’s Collective, says the office space they found came with good storefront as well — an ideal spot to open a cheese and charcuterie shop.
Then…COVID.
“We figured people wouldn’t be spending money on expensive cheeses,” Brandt says, “so we began talking with Jaimie Cloud at Miracle Spring Farm about our sales plans. Farms and small producers need to come together if they want to make it through this.” The two cheese producers decided to open a market to anyone who produces, farms or picks locally. It would be a space to sell their products — kind of like a farmers market six days a week, without each farm needing to devote and pay a staff member every day.
In the beginning, around 10 farms jumped aboard. The number has since grown to 15, and the store is eager to take on more. Each producer pays a small monthly fee to cover the basic costs for Coach Farm (which is donating the space), but other than that, they get 100% of the retail sales.
Currently, Farmer's Collective sells cheeses, dairy, meats, vegetables, flowers, preserves and bread and baked goods. Besides Coach and Miracle Spring, producers include Soukup Farms, Fat Apple Farms, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Bear Creek Flower Farm, Yellow Bell Farm, Our Daily Bread, and others.
The store is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and normally gets restocks on Thursday and Friday. Online ordering and curbside pickup are offered.
“The foot traffic has been amazing,” Brandt says. “Everybody seems to love the concept. We’re still trying to gauge the community, what they want and their needs.”
