Kiosks displaying products such as breads, jams, popcorn and crackers, all sporting an official Indiana Grown logo, will appear in 50 of Marsh’s 73 stores. Ben Kenney, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s communications director, said the partnership will benefit the state’s farmers, producers, consumers and economy.
“Hoosiers want to support Hoosiers,” he said. “We’re just providing that vessel.”
Kenney said the kiosks will highlight Indiana’s farmers and producers and make it easier to connect them with customers who want to eat local. He also said they will provide an opportunity for smaller farms and businesses to be more visible in a larger market.
“It opens the door for new upcoming businesses and farmers, too,” he said.
The drive and desire is there, he said, for markets to offer more locally made food. Marsh recognized the demand and took the first steps in initiating the partnership. The company had already been featuring IG products like meat and produce throughout its stores, but it will be the first to have its own strictly IG kiosk.
They will feature more than 100 IG products, half of which have never been in Marsh before, Kenney said. Because of the partnership, even more locally produced foods will be available throughout the store.
David King, the local foods program manager for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said Indiana gets about 10 percent of its food from within the state, and this initiative may help increase that number. King also works with the Indiana Grown Initiative and said he hopes the IG logo will help people buy more Indiana products, thus helping the economy. He called the initiative healthy.
“Today with the visibility, the buy-local initiatives have made consumers more aware that it makes sense to buy products closer to home,” he said. “I think it’s going to help them tremendously because anytime they see a product that’s under the Indiana Grown logo or banner, they’re going to have confidence that it’s local.”
IG products at Marsh include items made completely with Indiana-sourced ingredients and items that may have out-of-state ingredients but are processed in the state. IG has about 200 members, including farmers, businesses and producers.
King said he thinks Marsh is the first of many companies that will work with the initiative. He also said he thinks Marsh wanted to be the first store with an official partnership because it’s an Indiana-based company.
“We didn’t choose Marsh. Marsh chose us,” he said. “They happened to be the first one to move forward ... I think you’re going to see other retailers come forward to join us.”
Kenney said IG will make two more big announcements in the coming months.
