FoodHub Update:

Dear %%$first%%,

It’s one of the most powerful words in the English language and may have even compelled you to give FoodHub a try: FREE. We started offering free FoodHub memberships in February to test whether eliminating the fee significantly increased membership, and therefore connections, for everybody in the community.

Good news, it worked!

Membership in FoodHub has almost quadrupled since we started the test and the stories of successful connections have been rolling in…

• SoupCycle (Portland) and Grand Central Bakery (Seattle and Portland) have bought local specialty lentils, garbanzo beans and split peas from Davidson Commodities (Spokane).
• Sound Food (Bainbridge Island) helped a retailer on the island source USDA-certified local pork from Flying Dog Farm (Grapeview, WA) using FoodHub.
• Pd Farms (Eastern Oregon) and Eat Oregon First (Portland metro) have forged a mutually beneficial distribution partnership after meeting on FoodHub.
• Our Family Farm (Eugene) now supplies pastured chicken to the three hundred families who do their food shopping through buying club Know Thy Food (Portland).
• Wahluke School District (Matawa, WA) connected to Bella Terra Gardens (Zillah, WA) and is planning regular deliveries of tomatoes and cucumbers for the school’s salad bar this fall.

The list goes on and on… So we’re declaring “mission accomplished” on the test and rolling out a permanent FREE membership called FoodHub FastStart. This membership includes ALL the features and functionality you’ve got now, plus some great improvements slated to roll out in a couple weeks (details on that coming soon).

Your membership will automatically roll into the free FastStart account, you don’t need to do anything and you won’t lose any of your data or history. You’ll continue to have full access to the Member Directory and Marketplace and pay NO fees, ever.

Also coming in July will be two new account types worth considering. FoodHub Advantage is a monthly membership that helps you stand out from the crowd and get found faster. As an Advantage Member, you’d get:

• Your Member listing highlighted in color in the Member Directory and in all product search results, plus all of your Marketplace posts highlighted to stand out from the crowd.
• Add multiple photos in a photo gallery on your profile to tell your story in living color.
• Upload documents (such as recipes, price lists, certification paperwork, event registration forms, etc.) to create an engaging profile and start interacting with potential clients immediately.
• Get a 10% discount on all promotional bookings.

The Advantage account is only $14.99 per month and requires no long-term commitment.

The second new account type, FoodHub All-Access, provides just what the name implies: everything FoodHub has to offer! The All-Access membership helps you not only get found quickly and easily, but also get down to business faster. With it you’d get:

• Everything in Advantage, PLUS
• Embed videos on your profile to immerse potential contacts in your world.
• List business references on your profile to garner instant credibility.
• Collect email addresses to build your own mailing list.
• Set your Marketplace posts to automatically re-post so you can stay top of mind, effortlessly.

The All-Access membership is by far the best value, at only $129 for the whole year! Your satisfaction is guaranteed, so there’s no risk at all in giving it a try.

As I said, your membership will automatically roll into the free FastStart account after the launch in July. If you’d like to upgrade to Advantage or All-Access, you’ll be able to register online then – we’ll let you know when the new accounts are up and running.

Thank you for your participation in FoodHub! We’re so proud to work with you and very excited to offer a permanent free membership so that everyone in the region can use FoodHub!

All best,

Deborah Kane
FoodHub Project Director

PS: As always, you can contact the FoodHub Help Desk anytime to ask questions, give feedback, get help or share your success stories! Contact us at meet@food-hub.org or 855-FOODHUB.