What aquaponic growers can do for chefs

At the Putting Down Roots conference, a panel led by Lyf Gildersleeve of Flying Fish Company and Andre Uribe, Executive Chef at Bon Appetit and Willamette University, shared these tips to help commercial aquaponic growers:

Make logistics easy for the chefs and your customers in all ways that you can. Simple payment systems, simple packaging, bunching for easy processing, and if appropriate - washed and clean produce.

If you plan on working with any large distributor, you’ll very likely find yourself needing/wanting to get an organic certification so you can get the wholesale prices you’ll need for a premium product.

Chefs and procurement managers will pay more for produce, but only if the quality and story is there. Consumers want fresh, local produce, but not if it looks like crap. They also want to know where it came from, and even want to know who you are and what you're about. Technology is allowing consumers looking to connect with their farmers and your story is how you, or the chefs cooking with your produce, can do that.

Read more at the Aquaponics Association (Brandon Youst)