Yolo County, CA (MPG) - With assistance from the Yolo County Department of Agriculture and a USDA grant, Yolo County is now home to Preserve Farm Kitchens, a small-batch, private-label co-pack facility that helps farms of all sizes take raw product and turn it into shelf-stable, value-added foods.

Preserve Farm Kitchens is the brainchild of Merrilee Olson, a longtime food entrepreneur. She recognized farms could be more profitable if they had the means to sell the whole field and all grades of product. To do so, farms would need a home for the less-than-perfect products (not fit for the shelf as-is) that could be made into other products, i.e. jams, jellies, salsas, hummus, shrubs, etc.

“For many years, Yolo County farmers have shared with us the need for such a facility,” said Marcia Gibbs, president of Yolo Ag & Food Alliance, Yolo County’s Food Policy Council. “It takes a creative entrepreneur and a public-private partnership to make it happen. We are delighted to have Preserve Farm Kitchens in our community.”

Having outgrown their original 3,000 square foot production space in Marin County, Preserve Farm Kitchens looked to expand in Yolo County. Their new 10,000 square foot facility in Woodland will contain four different processing lines with the flexibility to do production runs as low as 25 cases up to a few 1,000 cases. Working with Yolo County, Preserve Farm Kitchens has been able to access a USDA Local Food Promotion Program grant to purchase necessary equipment and marketing assistance.

“We are pleased to have jointly received this USDA grant,” said Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner John Young. “It is key to helping grow the regional business system that supports the success of our farmers.”

Preserve Farm Kitchens is sited in the heart of the growing Woodland Food & Ag Business Cluster (www.WoodlandFoodAgCluster.com), joining a number of other local food processing businesses. What makes it unique is its commitment to farms of all sizes and ability to take on just about any crop.

“We are here to serve farms of all sizes and food entrepreneurs who are excited about bringing quality product to market,” said Merrilee Olson. “The farm product coming from Yolo County is the absolute best and we can’t wait to get started.”

Preserve Farm Kitchens will hold a soft launch in early 2016 with an eye toward full capacity by harvest time. For more information, visit www.PreserveFarmKitchens.com.

Source: Yolo County