For food producers like Matt Anderson of Chemong City Greens, expanding distribution and dealing with delivery logistics are often the most challenging parts of running the business. That’s why he is actively participating in agricultural programming supported by Peterborough County.
Since 2021, Chemong City Greens in Peterborough has been growing high-quality microgreens — the nutritious young seedlings of various herbs and vegetables — through innovative indoor vertical farming. Anderson grows his microgreens using organic seeds and organic soil, without the use of pesticides.
As an indoor farming operation, Chemong City Greens is able to grow microgreens all year round, delivering the freshly harvested product locally within 24 hours. Regular subscriptions are available for retail customers with flexible sizing, varieties, and frequency.
To help connect with new retail customers, Chemong City Greens is a member of Kawartha Choice FarmFresh, an economic development initiative that provides a brand identity for local producers, a network for members to share and access resources, and an online database for buyers to find local producers.
Though Anderson says he enjoys making deliveries so he can get to know his retail customers, the majority of his sales are to grocery stores, markets, restaurants, cafés, and other wholesale buyers.
To help build these connections, Anderson was an early participant in the Kawartha Local Food Wholesale Program, an economic development initiative whose goal is to connect producers with buyers in Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and the City of Peterborough.
Anderson was involved in the early training stage of the program, which helped him understand what buyers are looking for from producers, and has since become co-chair of the program’s steering committee.
“The program helps bridge the gap for producers between producing and sales, which I think is where a lot of small producers struggle,” Anderson says.
“They can grow or raise amazing produce, meat, poultry, or what have you, but it’s getting it to market and getting the sales that can be a challenge. The program’s really been trying to help and provide the tools to do that.”
The final stage of the program is the Green Circle Food Hub, developed in partnership with Graze & Gather, which will help food producers like Chemong City Greens make its product available to even more local wholesale buyers.
Anderson says the Green Circle Food Hub is particularly helpful for small producers selling to buyers in another township or county, as it means producers don’t have to make deliveries themselves.
“One of the biggest challenges for a lot of small producers is aggregation and distribution and getting product to market efficiently,” he explains. “Hubs like Green Circle can help streamline that process. It makes local food more accessible at scale because they have the logistics down and they cover a wide area of Peterborough County.”
To learn more about Chemong City Greens and to order online, visit chemongcitygreens.ca.
The Local Advantage in Peterborough County is a branded editorial feature series celebrating the farmers, food producers, food retailers, and agri-tourism businesses that make The Kawarthas thrive, created in partnership with Peterborough County’s Economic Development & Tourism Division.
Agriculture is a key economic driver and a point of pride for Peterborough County, with local farms producing a wide variety of high-quality goods, from traditional crops and livestock to organic and specialty products, reflecting the strength and diversity of this vital sector. With a growing focus on sustainability, local food systems, agri-innovation, and agri-tourism, agriculture offers strong potential for growth and diversification.
The Local Advantage with Peterborough County series spotlights the Kawartha Choice FarmFresh and Kawartha Local Food Wholesale initiatives, which aim to strengthen connections from farm to table across our region.
For more information about economic development and tourism in Peterborough County, visit www.ptbocounty.ca/ecdev and The Kawarthas Tourism at thekawarthas.ca.
