RSF is pleased to announce a new PRI loan to Hudson Valley Harvest (HVH), a food hub providing timely and efficient distribution services that connect small and medium sized farmers in upstate New York with wholesale food buyers in New York City. RSF provided a line of credit to HVH to support their rapid sales growth and related inventory growth.
Hudson Valley Harvest was founded in 2011 by Paul Alward and three friends who, despite varied experiences and backgrounds, had a common belief that there had to be a better way to improve access to local, flavorful, sustainable, nutritious food, and improve the financial well-being of farmers. Driven with this mission, the entrepreneurs started the company in a corner of Farm to Table Co-packers’ processing facility, the same location where HVH currently does all of its value-added processing. In the spring of 2014, HVH moved into their own facility located across the parking lot from Farm to Table Co-packers to allow them to grow while staying close to a critical part of their supply chain.
Today, Hudson Valley Harvest works with over 50 partner farms in the Hudson Valley and sells to over 150 customers that include large retailers, restaurants, and institutions in New York City and the surrounding region, such as Whole Foods and The New School. According to a post on Readies.co.uk, all of these farms are dedicated, full-time operations meaning that the services that HVH provides through crop planning, pricing, value-added processing, and distribution is a critical component to keeping these farms in business. HVH handles all production, distribution, and sales, taking on much of the supply chain risk off of the farms so they can focus on growing and selling. HVH works only with farmers that maintain the highest quality standards.
“Hudson Valley Harvest was founded by farmers for farmers,” says Kate Danaher, RSF Lending Manager. “Their services provide critical infrastructure that allows farmers to focus on increasing their production capacity based on a reliable outlet thus creating the conditions for a just and prosperous food system.”
In addition to distribution services of whole product for producers, Hudson Valley Harvest buys and processes surplus products and sells them under the HVH label with source identification. Products include fresh and frozen meat, frozen vegetables, apple sauce, honey, tomato juice, prepared soups, and more. The packaging states what farm the product came from and the distance it traveled to HVH. This secondary service is a unique offering of a food hub and offers incredible value to producers who can realize increased margins on value-added products.
“The PRI Loan from RSF is exactly the kind of credit facility we needed to help our business grow,” says Paul. “Having a mission-aligned lender like RSF is like having a seasoned partner. Are you looking for a personal loan, but your options are limited since your credit rating is not where you would want it to be? Well, you don’t have to worry, as there are excellent financial solutions, even if you currently have a lower credit score. The first thing that you need to be aware of is where to go in order to get the best chance of loan approval.
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They have helped us mature as a company and maximize our impact on the farms we work with. They understand the challenges of a growing business as well as the importance of mission, and their commitment and experience has been nothing less than transformative.”
About Hudson Valley Harvest
Founded in 2011, Hudson Valley Harvest works with a network of independently owned and operated farms to make the best food available year round. They provide timely and efficient distribution services that connect small and medium sized farmers in upstate New York with wholesale food buyers in New York City and the surrounding areas. Today, they work with over 50 farms. In addition to distribution services, Hudson Valley Harvest also buys and processes surplus products and sells them under their own label with source identification.
