Recap: Wholesale Ready Workshop Series

Land to Table’s first Wholesale-Ready Workshop Series was held on January 30 and February 20, 2025, in Vernon at Community Futures North Okanagan (CFNO) with generous funding support from CFNO, the Regional District of the North Okanagan, and Feed BC. The workshops were designed to support small and medium-sized farmers in exploring wholesale market opportunities and developing “Action Plans” to grow and sell their products to wholesale markets. The series facilitated networking amongst farmers in the region and provided tools and insights into growing for and selling to wholesale markets, including distributors, institutions, processors, restaurants, caterers, and schools. This initiative sought to help existing farmers expand their operations and market reach, while equipping new farmers with the knowledge to integrate wholesale readiness into their business models.

The workshop series was facilitated by Shuswap Organics owner and farmer Emily Jubenvill and Andrea Gunner, a business planning, agricultural marketing, and agricultural economics consultant and farmer, who both shared their vast knowledge and experience as small-medium scale farmers and business owners operating in the wholesale sector. 

Day One

On day one, Emily and Andrea shared their experience and knowledge of the different wholesale avenues, their personal experiences and journeys with wholesale, and they led the group through a regional SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat) activity to better understand the regional context of their work. 

Later in the day, there was a panel discussion with industry experts Stefan Misse, the President and Lead Purchaser at Discovery Organics; Sarah Harper, co-owner of Stoke the Fire; and Michael Kosaka, owner and farmers of Amazia Organic Farm. The panelists shared their experiences and strategies for building successful wholesale models, covering topics like assessing new suppliers, building strong wholesale relationships, and identifying opportunities for scaling businesses. For key insights on wholesale sales to a distributor, food manufacturer, and to local restaurants and grocery stores, check out the panel recording. 

As part of the workshop, Land to Table developed a Wholesale Ready Workbook, to guide participants through the process of self assessment and building a “whole-sale ready” action plan. The workbook covers key steps in becoming wholesale ready, assessing current farm situations, defining wholesale goals, and understanding operational, logistical, financial, and marketing challenges. Participants were sent home with the task of reviewing the workbook and reflecting on their own business in preparation for building an action plan with the facilitators on day two. 

Day Two

On day two of the workshop, attendees were broken into two smaller groups based on meat vs. produce production and worked with the two facilitators to develop their action plans, to prepare their cold call scripts to reach out to wholesale purchasers, and to trouble shoot their business plans to scale to wholesale production. The day was filled with discussions on diversifying income streams, expanding market reach, and addressing challenges such as administrative burdens, funding, and certification processes.The format allowed for farmers to learn from each other and for the facilitators to share key insights from their success and failures. Each participant left day two with a ready-to-implement action plan for the season. 

Attendee Feedback and Outcomes

Attendees expressed enthusiasm about the collaborative environment and the opportunity to connect with other farmers and industry professionals. Aside from the practical skills and approach developed in the workshop, the opportunity to collaborate and network were key takeaways. Attendees relayed that “farmers and producers are doing a good job collaborating and that seems to be the way forward, to build resiliency.” A farmer new to the region shared “I’ve never seen so many farmers working together already. It builds resiliency and it’s refreshing to see.” For some farmers, this workshop was their first formal farmer networking opportunity. They shared “We have certainly learned the importance of networking with others in the farming/food industry.”

Participants appreciated the practical guidance provided, which empowered them to develop personalized plans for entering wholesale markets. When asked pre-workshop how “wholesale ready” they felt, attendees ranked their businesses on a scale of 1-10 (1-not ready, 10-ready). By the time they left the workshop, all attendees rated their readiness between 8-10, which in some cases was 6 points higher than before they began. In an exit survey, farmers shared “I think it’s good to have diverse sales channels and this [wholesale] is one,” and they were “feeling excited about the possibility of stable, reliable [wholesale] markets.”

As a network organization, Land to Table served a key function in coordinating and planning the workshop series with sponsorship support from FeedBC, Community Futures North Okanagan, and the Regional District of the North Okanagan. The attendee farmers, upon hearing the function and scope of Land to Table as a resource, said that they were “very excited to know that there is more than just farmers who are working to help” and that “ the sense of community both with farmers and other food producers, but also the will to help these people from other entities; government, non-profits, grants, etc.” was their biggest takeaway from the series. 

Land to Table encourages farmers who are interested in selling to wholesale markets, even if it is only a single crop to start, to review the resources from this workshop and to reach out with any questions. Below are additional resources recommended by the facilitation team for funding, news, and ministry support. 

Additional Resources:

• Questions? Reach out to Sarah Mortenson, New Entrant Agrologist with Ministry of Agriculture and Food : sarah.mortenson@gov.bc.ca
• Join the IAF email mailing list
• Food Safety Program
• Youth Employment Skills Program
• Summer Student Farm Work Bursary 

Resource: Wholesale Ready Workbook

This extensive workbook was designed by farmers for farmers to guide you through the process of understanding where you are starting from in order to scale up your farm operation to successfully sell to wholesale customers. We owe a big thanks to the experience and insights of Emily Jubenvill of Shuswap Organics and Andrea Gunner of Rosebank Farms/AG Consulting for supporting the development of this resource.

We wanted to share this guide with our network so you too can benefit from these resources.

By working through this guide, you will:

• Understand the different types/levels of wholesale markets
• Identify the key steps in becoming “wholesale ready.”
  • Decide if you want to pursue “entry-level” or “mainstream” wholesale.
• Assess your current farm situation, define your wholesale goals, and develop a step-by-step plan to achieve them.
• Understand the operational, logistical, financial, and marketing challenges involved in supplying larger-scale buyers.

We would love to hear what you think of this resource. We also know that the farmers who attended these workshops gained a lot of value from the in-person learning. If you would like to engage in a workshop please let us know!

Rewatch: Panel Discussion

We hosted a panel discussion on day one, which explored the experiences and strategies behind building successful wholesale models for local farmers and food businesses. Panelists Stefan Misse (Discovery Organics), Sarah Harper (Stoke the Fire), and Michael Kosaka (Amazia Organic Farm) shared their journeys into wholesale markets, highlighting key lessons, challenges, and successes. Discussions covered assessing and working with new suppliers, building strong wholesale relationships, and identifying opportunities for farmers to scale their businesses—whether by selling to institutions, partnering with manufacturers, or refining their operational systems. Through these insights, attendees gained a deeper understanding of what it takes to thrive in wholesale markets.

Stefan Misse

Stefan spent 22 years with Discovery Organics, a leading organic fresh produce wholesaler in BC and Alberta. He served as Senior Purchaser from 2003 before stepping up to President in 2021, leading a team of long-time employees who purchased a majority share from company founders Annie Moss and Randy Hooper.

Discovery Organics operates 364 days a year, serving Western Canadian retailers, restaurants, processors, and buying groups. Founded in 1998, the company’s mission has always been to develop markets for local organic farmers—a commitment that continues today with a deep understanding of food systems, the interconnected nature of the food industry, and the importance of relationships from farm to table. The business has expanded by sourcing directly from certified organic farms, ranches, and orchards across the Western Hemisphere, with a strong preference for partners connected to the Fair Trade movement.

Stefan is also a former member of the Vancouver Food Policy Council.

Sarah Harper

Sarah and her partner come from backgrounds in culinary arts, entertainment, creativity, and technical farming, which led them to develop an urban farm in Revelstoke and build strong ties to the community. They initially set out to grow enough food to sustain themselves year-round, but their goal quickly evolved into a community-driven passion for local food—particularly “crazy, exotic peppers.”

This passion eventually led to the creation of Stoke the Fire, a line of hot sauces launched in 2021. Their unique blend of skills, love for local food and gardening, and commitment to creating distinctive products fueled their growth. By 2024, they relocated their operations to Cawston, known as Canada’s Organic Farming Capital, where 40% of growers are organic.

Michael Kosaka

Michael Kosaka grew up farming in a family-run hydroponic greenhouse in British Columbia. He later spent over a decade as an owner-operator of olive farms and vineyards in France before returning to Canada to establish Amazia Farm in 2016.

Amazia Farm is a GAP-certified, certified organic, no-till vegetable farm that integrates animals to support its regenerative goals. Initially focused on farmers’ market sales, the farm aimed to build a core Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. By its third year, the focus shifted to supplying local restaurants, managing a small CSA, and maintaining a weekly farmers’ market presence. Today, Amazia Farm supplies two organic grocery stores in addition to local restaurants.

The farm consistently produces lettuces and leafy greens from May to October, alongside over 40 seasonal crops. Over the past nine years, Michael has had to adapt and reinvent the farm multiple times to stay in business, gaining valuable insight into different farming models and their challenges.

Acknowledgements

This workshop series is hosted in partnership between Land to Table and Community Futures with generous funding from the Regional District of the North Okanagan and FeedBC.