Martin Anenberg, Business Development Manager of Locally Grown Produce for FreshPoint of Southern California, will be participating on a panel focused on sourcing sustainable and organic produce at the upcoming Seedstock Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Conference on October 24, 2012 at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
At FreshPoint, one of the leading produce distributors in Southern California and a subsidiary of Sysco Corporation, Martin works with over 50 family farmers located between San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties. All of the local produce Martin sources is consumed within the same geographic area as his farms.
As a result, Martin’s customer base is consuming the freshest and most seasonal produce available while providing his customers with a “food story” that describes who is growing their food and how they are growing it. Prior to his produce career, Martin was the Entrepreneur in Residence for the University of Massachusetts, where he invested and managed start-up companies within the university’s high-tech incubator. Martin is currently serving on the Los Angeles Food Policy Council.
The panel in which Martin will participate will examine the buy side of sustainably/organically produced food and delve into what the market demand looks like from the buyers’ perspective, challenges buyers face in sourcing from local farms, potential solutions or ideas to bring more sustainable/organic farmers into the fold.
