For producers

Interested in Becoming a Grasshopper Producer?

To get started, please fill out our Producer Interest Form and return it by fax, email or mail to the contact information listed at the bottom of this page. We will contact you to discuss moving forward. Call us with questions anytime.

How We Work with Producers

Grasshoppers works with producers in the state of Kentucky, and in Southern Indiana. We carry conventionally grown, all natural, and certified organic produce. Our meat, dairy, and egg products are free-range, pastured and antibiotic, hormone, steroid free. Our planning period for crops is in the winter, but we are open to new producers on a revolving basis, depending on what products are needed at the time. If you have a product that is of high quality, value-added, or unique in some way, we would love to hear about it. If we are not able to take on your product, we will keep your contact information in case an opportunity arises at a later date.

Because we are producer-owned, it is important to us to have a business that works for producers. To that end we have developed our packaging standards and price lists with producer input. We strive to pay fair prices, make payments within seven business days, and be transparent by having a direct connection to the farms. All of our product lines are appropriate for small-scale family agriculture production. Please contact us if you have questions about pricing.

Wholesale-specific Marketing

As a wholesale distributor, we take a different marketing approach than farmers' markets or direct marketing. This is reflected in what we ask of the farms we work with (see below). We will work with farms to take these steps if they have not already. We understand that wholesale markets do not suit all farm operations, and our markets in particular may not suit everyone. For every farm we work with, we hope the experience is beneficial.

Our Markets

• Wholesale Distribution: a weekly delivery to restaurants, groceries, and other food service providers. This includes retail-ready and raw agricultural products of any type. We operate on a just-in-time system, which means you let us know what is available for harvest in a given week; we pass that information on to our customers; they order from us; and we order those quantities from you.
• Community Supported Agriculture: a multi-farm subscription program with shares for produce, meat, eggs, and dairy. This program uses all-natural and organic products.
• Special Events: the procurement of large quantities of food for conferences or meetings.

A Few Things We Ask of Our Producers

• To provide an invoice upon delivery that contains: the name of your farm, contact person, mailing address, phone number, date, product description, price per unit, and total price. Any invoice, hand-written included, is fine so long as it contains this information. We strongly suggest using duplicate copies to keep a record for your self.
• To follow our produce packing specifications. Standardization is important to delivering a consistent product to our customers, so that they can order with confidence from several farms at once. We think you will find the specifications to be minimal and reasonable. Click here to download a spreadsheet of the specs. (You must have a spreadsheet program to view.) If you have a product that doesn't fit the specs because of seasonal timing, or because it is unique in some way, let us know. We may be able to work around it.
• To become KY Proud certified. Applicable to Kentucky farms only. Ky Proud is a program that promotes Ky agricultural products and provides marketing assistance to producers, including Grasshoppers. It is free to join and the process is simple. Download form here or ask us to help you with it.
• To become Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certified. This is a checklist created by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to ensure proper post-harvest handling and water practices are being followed on the farm. This certification gives confidence to our customers who do not have first hand knowledge of the farm and who are concerned with food safety. Download the form here or ask us for more information.
• To ship product in transient containers. Basically this means we are not able to return boxes to producers. It is too much to monitor with product from many farms moving through our warehouse. Exceptions can be made for CSA product because of the necessity of repackaging, or if you deliver personally to the warehouse and repackage yourself upon delivery.

Producer Interest Form

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.

Once you've filled out the application, you have two options:

• mail it to Grasshoppers Distribution 1501 Portland Avenue Louisville, KY 40203
• fax to (502) 708-1883