Corner Brook food hub expanding to connect customers with local producers year-round

What was once a 16-week trial run has become a year-round endeavour to connect food producers with customers in western Newfoundland.

The Western Food Hub began as a pilot project in 2021 but went on hiatus last year. It reopened at the end of July thanks to new funding, and program co-ordinator Richard Butt said they've now filled over 1,000 orders.

"We've got a big range of people," Butt told CBC News on Thursday. He said he's served everyone from young families to seniors. 

"We've got a good mix of customers.… Typically people that are coming here are conscious about where their food is coming from [and] want to support local."

The hub, an enterprise of Food First N.L., works with over 20 producers to put their products on an online platform for consumers to buy directly. Orders are placed from Friday to Monday of each week and can be picked up at the hub the following Thursday.

Butt said it's exciting to be able to continue the program into the winter.

"We're really going to get a chance to see the seasonality of local products here at the food hub," he said. "If we can keep building that number [of producers] and keep building our customer base, then we'll keep the local food flowing."

That's welcome news for shoppers like Becky Newton and Ann English, who use the hub to access local produce along with things like coffees, teas, spices and baked goods.

"I like being able to buy things locally, but also it's convenient," Newton said. "I can get my eggs year-round and meat year-round."

English called it wonderful news.

"I'll be delighted to come in for veg and everything that they offer all winter," she said.

The hub has added a second drop-off point in Corner Brook at Memorial University's Grenfell campus, and Butt hopes it will expand further, into other west coast communities.

"Maybe one in Pasadena, one in Deer Lake, one in Stephenville, so on. We've got people inquiring up in Norris Point, Rocky Harbour area," Butt said.

"If we can have pickup points for the food hub in all these different areas to make it super-convenient … that's really what it's all about for us."

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