Farm-to-Table Goes Digital with Greenbelt's Foodem.com

Greenbelt’s Foodem.com was showcased in DCWEEK “Local Food Goes Digital” for its founder Kash Rehmen’s work to connect local farms with Washington, D.C. metropolitan-area chefs and restaurants.

estaurant hosted Monday’s event, organized by Cheryl Kollin, principal of Full Plate Ventures. Chef Tony Marciante prepared a special menu of local foods for the evening, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Montgomery Countryside Alliance.

Growing Demand for Local Food a Challenge for Local Restaurants, Hospitals and Schools

Kollin spoke about the growing demand for local food in Maryland and across the country.  “The local food industry has grown by $3 billion in the past nine years,” said Kollin, “And 77 percent of Marylanders say they’d like to eat more local foods. There is tremendous demand.” 

Kollin noted that while it’s getting easier for consumers to buy local foods, barriers remain for small and medium-sized businesses.

“Individuals can go to a farmers market or buy a CSA share. However, we don’t have an infrastructure developed for the restaurants, hospitals and schools that want to buy local foods. It’s just not there and it’s a challenge,” Kollin said.   

Electronic Marketplace Makes Connections and Provides Transparency
Foodem.com is a web-based solution for small and medium-size businesses to purchase more local foods. Rehman, a former food distributor and former restaurant owner, developed Foodem.com as an online marketplace for wholesale food buyers to compare prices and foods from a variety of growers and manufacturers.  

“We target smaller and mid-size companies, and we also target farmers. We help the sustainable food chain," said Rehman. 

Based in Greenbelt, Rehman plans to expand beyond the site's launch in the D.C. area through the Northeast and then nationally. On Foodem.com, farmers can post their crops and prices, and buyers can search the site and place orders electronically.

Rehman explained that comparing prices and knowing food sources is not the industry norm. “With our transparency, we help everybody learn where the food comes from and how much it costs," Rehman said. "The ‘big guys’ don’t like to share that information.” 

Chef Tony Echoes the Need to Connect Small Businesses with Local Farmers
Chef Tony Marciante is using Foodem.com to find and purchase more local foods for his restaurant’s menu, and encourages other restaurants to do the same. Marciante praised Foodem.com for the time it can save a busy chef or restaurant owner. 

“Most of our restaurants in Bethesda are small, individual, chef-owned restaurants – which we all need to support. It’s a hard business with long hours. Running a restaurant is a challenge even if you’re getting all your food delivered from one source," Marciante said. "Trying to find local foods is time consuming and small restaurants just don’t have the staff. Foodem.com is a godsend.  Having this platform to communicate and see what the prices are is fantastic.” 

Marciante encouraged local chefs to work together to access food grown by local farmers for their menus, pointing out that when a group of restaurants purchase from the same group of sources, the entire group saves on prices and the cost of delivery. “It’s got to be a coordinated effort.  You have to have conversations and get the blood moving to create something," Marciante said.