The Declaratory Ruling from the DNR that explains the characteristics of the animals that they will destroy.

A letter from the Michigan Animal Farmers Association (MAFA) to Director Stokes of the DNR in response to the MDNR meeting on February 1 in Grayling.

A letter from Director Stokes to State Representative McBroom.

Coverage of the events from Interlochen Public Radio.

UPDATE – A response letter from Director Stokes to the MAFA.

Job Title: Produce Manager

Reports to: Operations Manager
Compensation: Full time salary, dependent on experience.
Location: Traverse City, MI
Hire Date: Spring 2012

SUMMARY

Cherry Capital Foods is focused on local and Michigan grown food. The ideal candidate will be responsible for all elements of our fresh produce category, from crop planning with farmers to working with sales staff to ensure quality product for our customers.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Maintain proper inventory levels for produce products on a year round basis.
2. Inspect product for quality issues, including crop damage, handling/storage damage.
3. Work with warehouse staff to maintain proper storage of products.
4. Create and send purchase orders to vendors with every order.
5. As needed, double check vendor invoices for accuracy issues.
6. Project inventory needs based on past sales data and current info from sales staff.
7. Communicate new product and service opportunities, special developments, information, or feedback gathered through field activity to appropriate company staff.
8. Develop and implement special sales activities to reduce inventory.
9. Establish and maintain current farm and potential farm relationships.
10. Participate in marketing events such as seminars, trade shows, round table discussions and special events.
11. Keep the company apprised to events and information from the farming community.
12. Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS

1. Must have a strong work ethic and be a self-starter.
2. Possess a Bachelors Degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
3. Experience with produce in retail, on the farm, food production or food service required.
4. Fluency in Spanish is preferred.
5. Passion for and belief in local/regional food systems and the economic benefit they bring to our community and state.
6. Experience with farm certifications such as GAP, Organic, MAEAP and Food Alliance.
7. Experience with Gmail, Quickbooks, Constant Contact and inventory management software.
8. Ability to create, compose, and edit written materials. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
9. Work requires maintaining a professional appearance and providing a positive company image to the public.
10. Work requires moderate travel to current and potential farmers. This requires the possession of a valid state drivers license and a reliable vehicle at all times of employment.
11. Work requires willingness to work a flexible schedule with occasional overnight travel.

Qualified candidates are asked to submit their resume, cover letter and references to careers@cherrycapitalfoods.com, interviews to be conducted in February and March of 2012.

Job Title: Sales Representative

Reports to: Sales Manager
Compensation: Base salary plus quarterly commission bonus, dependent on experience.
Location: Petoskey, Traverse City or Grand Rapids, MI
Hire Date: March 2012

SUMMARY

The ideal candidate will be responsible for all sales activities for assigned accounts or regions and will manage the quality and consistency of the customer service experience.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Present and sell lines of represented products to current and prospective clients.
2. Prepare action plans and schedules to identify specific targets and to project sales activities on a weekly basis.
3. Follow up on new leads and referrals resulting from field activity.
4. Identify sales prospects and contact these and other accounts as assigned.
5. Establish and maintain current client and potential client relationships.
6. Manage account services through quality checks and other follow-up.
7. Identify and resolve client concerns.
8. Prepare a variety of status reports, including activity, closings, follow-up, and adherence to goals.
9. Communicate new product and service opportunities, special developments, information, or feedback gathered through field activity to appropriate company staff.
10. Coordinate company staff to accomplish the work required to close sales.
11. Develop and implement special sales activities to reduce inventory.
12. Participate in marketing events such as seminars, trade shows, round table discussions and special events.
13. Follow-up for collection of late payment.
14. Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS

1. Must have a strong work ethic and be a self-starter.
2. Possess a Bachelors Degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
3. Experience in retail or food service industry, farming or food production.
4. Passion for and belief in local/regional food systems and the economic benefit they bring to our community and state.
5. Experience with Gmail, Quickbooks, inventory management software and smart phones.
6. Ability to create, compose, and edit written materials. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
7. Knowledge of advertising and sales promotion techniques.
8. Ability to develop and deliver presentations to small groups of customers.
9. Ability to explain features and benefits of CCF products and services.
10. Ability to indentify customer sales objections and overcome them.
11. Work requires maintaining a professional appearance and providing a positive company image to the public.
12. Work requires moderate travel to current and potential clients. This requires the possession of a valid state drivers license and a reliable vehicle at all times of employment.
13. Work requires willingness to work a flexible schedule with occasional overnight travel.

WORKING CONDITIONS

CCF supplies each sales representative with a laptop computer, GPS enabled smart phone, mileage allowance and company credit card. Depending on experience and location, a candidate may be asked to work remotely out of a home office with regularly scheduled staff meetings inTraverse City,MI.

Qualified candidates are asked to submit their resume, cover letter and references to careers@cherrycapitalfoods.com, interviews to be conducted in February of 2012.

The top 10 menu trends for next year will be:
1. Locally sourced meats and seafood
2. Locally grown produce
3. Healthful kids’ meals
4. Hyper-local items
5. Sustainability as a culinary theme
6. Children’s nutrition as a culinary theme
7. Gluten-free/food allergy-conscious items
8. Locally produced wine and beer
9. Sustainable seafood
10. Whole grain items in kids’ meals

Cherry Capital Foods is equipped to assist in almost all of these. Check out our price sheets on our front page or contact us to learn more.

Continue reading the The National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot in 2012” survey.

Cherry Capital Foods is delivering local produce to more than 20 school districts in northwest Lower Michigan, spanning north to Harbor Springs and Inland Lakes to Clare in the south, including Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools, Traverse City Area Public Schools, Glen Lake Community Schools and Leland Public Schools in the Grand Traverse Region

Lake City Schools is a great example of increased use of local foods in school meals. Ron Homan, the Food Service Director, uses a variety of local products in his every day lunches through purchase from Cherry Capital Foods. “It’s been a good choice for us,” Homan said. “The company has been great. They take care of all the licensing and paperwork and make sure the farms are doing everything right.”

Homan goes through “a lot of apples” each month and uses items such as onions, red peppers and zucchini for things like pizzas and wraps that call for fresh vegetables. Ron and his staff are always looking for ways to incorporate fresh produce into the school kitchen’s meals. “The kids like what we get and it helps the Michigan economy,” Homan said with a smile. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Richard Friske of Friske Orchards in Attwood has worked with Cherry Capital Foods since its inception. “We’ve always tried hard to sell as much of our product locally as possible, and have succeeded on many fronts.  Local schools however were always a challenge for us, because of their need to buy in smaller quantities that we were not able to deliver in.  This season has been marked by dramatic increases in volume of all the fruit and fruit products we supply to CCF.  I believe that the amount of our products that CCF is distributing to schools in Northern Michigan has been an area of very strong growth, which is a significant benefit to our business, to the business of CCF, and to school students in our area.  I look forward to a continually growing relationship with Cherry Capital Foods.” said Friske.

This school year TCAPS Montessori also held their first local food fundraiser in cooperation with Cherry Capital Foods, which resulted in more than $4500 worth of local farm products purchased. Local food fundraisers have also been held this year at Leland and Suttons Bay Schools as well as Bellaire and Glen Lake Schools in the past.

The uptick in school purchases is a success story for the Northwest Michigan Food and Farming Network’s goal to increase the resilience and double the value of the region’s food and agricultural system by 2019. The Network is a forum for the region’s many food and farming interests to advance their work as a result of the six-county citizen-led Grand Vision process that calls for strong farms, healthy people, and abundant, fruitful farmland. The network includes representatives from farming, food service, processing, government, education, finance, public health, family and youth services – and distribution, including Cherry Capital Foods.

Cherry Capital Foods works with midsize farms that are diversified in the crops they raise, ranging from meat farmers, cheese operations, fruit growers and produce farmers as well as food businesses turning local farm raised crops into shelf stable products like jams, juices and sauces. A mission driven business, Cherry Capital Foods’ goal is to make buying local an easy, every day routine.

Schools are finding that having all sorts of local produce and other locally produced foods in one place and arriving in one delivery helps them place local on the menu daily. Food service directors are able to purchase this food with confidence as Cherry Capital Foods is third party certified as a food handler, has a track and trace system in place, holds sufficient insurance, and keeps all food in climate controlled settings. Schools are given a detailed list of the farm or producer of each item and their location to keep them connected to the farms they are supporting.

“Buying locally produced food from a locally owned distributor keeps more of our food dollars in our community, simplifies purchasing and keeps multiple trucks off the road” says Kelly Lively, Cherry Capital Foods School Liaison. “The kids benefit from Food Service Directors using local ingredients to create healthy meals, for body and mind. I hope we can all appreciate the important role our Food Service Teams play in our schools!”

Food Services Director Ron Homan holds a few of the Michigan-grown apples that have come into the Lake City cafeteria recently. (photo by Mike Dunn)

As seen in the Missaukee Sentinel on Friday September 30th, 2011

By Mike Dunn

LAKE CITY – Three years ago, Lake City Area Schools Food Services Director Ron Homan made a fresh decision. He hasn’t regretted it.
Homan opted to work with a food supplier from Traverse City that offered fresh produce grown mostly in northern Michigan. The product that has come to Homan’s kitchen since then has been as good as Homan expected it to be and he believes the students have been the biggest beneficiary of the decision to use Cherry Capital Foods.
“It’s worked out well,” Homan said last week. “Any time you can get items that are grown locally, they’re fresher and they naturally taste better. It’s also healthier. You can notice the difference.”
Cherry Capital Foods supplies Lake City and several other schools in the region with produce such as green beans, red bell peppers and broccoli from the Middle Branch Farm in Marion, zucchini squash from Grand Rapids, sweet corn from Harris Farms in Honor, apple sauce from Grawn, jalapeno peppers from Coopersville, tomatoes from Suttons Bay and Macintosh apples from Friske Orchards in Alden.
Some items such as hydroponic tomatoes, apples and onions are available any time of the year.
“It’s been a good choice for us,” Homan said. “The company has been great. They take care of all the licensing and paperwork and make sure the farms are doing everything right.”
Homan said he goes through “a lot of apples” each month and uses items such as onions, red peppers and zucchini for things like pizza recipes that call for fresh vegetables. There’s no end to the ways he and his staff can incorporate fresh produce into the school’s kitchen fare.
“The kids like what we get and it helps the Michigan economy,” Homan said with a smile. “It’s a win-win situation.”

National Farm to School Month

Cherry Capital Foods’ sales to schools has sky rocketed this year, which speaks volume for farm to school programs in our region. We are very proud to part of this growing movement. For more information on our school programs call or email Kelly Lively

Cherry Capital Foods Truck Pure Michigan Logo

We have been approved by the State of Michigan to represent…. Michigan! If you see our trucks – send us a photo on Facebook.