Are you a ‘cooperative’, ‘food hub’, or a ‘hub’, that aggregates, stores, and distributes local food? Complete the Ontario’s First Food Hub Financial Benchmarking Survey by January 14, 2019 to receive your customized benchmarking report comparing your organization to the food hub sector.

To participate in the Food Hub Benchmarking Survey, click here.

It takes less than 25 minutes to complete the survey and submit financial data. This process is completely confidential (The Greenbelt Fund and Wallace Centre never see any individual data) and is protected by Farm Credit’s bank-level security.

Participation has two parts:

1. A 35-question survey: Sounds like a lot? Here are a couple of the questions: what year was your hub established; how many loading docks do you have; can your customers order online. See all the questions in advance by clicking here.
   
   
2. An analysis of your 2017 annual financial reports (balance sheet, cashflow and P&L as of December 31, 2017). The pros at Farm Credit will handle the analysis; all you have to do is submit the reports themselves. If you have any questions about your financial reports, where to find them, or how they will be used, you can contact Farm Credit directly for help. Just shoot them an email and let them know what you need.

The Greenbelt Fund, nor the Wallace Center has access to your financial information or survey results. In fact, no one gets to know who participated – we just get the benchmarks like everyone else! This is bank-level security you can trust.

Seriously – that’s it. Not only will your participation help us develop the benchmark, you’ll also be provided with an individual report to help you understand how to improve your hub’s key performance indicators (KPIs) and mission impact. Here’s a sneak peek at the kind of KPIs you’ll receive:

Deadline: January 14, 2019

Note that the survey is open to hubs operating in Canada
Complete the survey to receive your individualized benchmarking report comparing your organization to the food hub sector!

To participate in the Food Hub Benchmarking Survey, click here.

The Greenbelt Fund is partnering with the Wallace Centre and Farm Credit East to undertake this Food Hub Financial Benchmarking Survey based on their past successful surveys in the United States.

With your help, we can benchmark Ontario’s food hub sector to help us all better understand where the food hub sector is headed, and help individual hub operators such as yourself understand how to get on, and stay on, the path to long-term financial success.

Large companies develop or access benchmarks by hiring consulting firms to conduct research on their competitors. We want to have the data collected so that key benchmarks of the sector can be shared with all of you to help you grow your businesses and build stronger, more sustainable food systems.

How to participate in the survey:

• You’ll complete a brief survey and submit your financial data for analysis. This process is completely confidential (The Greenbelt Fund and Wallace Centre never sees any individual data) and protected by Farm Credit’s bank-level security.
• To ensure that you’re ready to participate in the survey, please review the Wallace Center’s free Financial Fundamentals for Food Hubs webinar series, in which Farm Credit East staff demonstrate how to set up and manage your key financial information.
• Your hub will receive an individualized benchmark report, comparing your individual hub performance to the sector, and guidance on how to use the findings of the survey as a decision-making and goal-setting tool.
• Once the data are analyzed and findings documented the Greenbelt Fund will host a webinar on the findings in early 2019.
• If you have any questions about participation, just ask! Farm Credit is happy to walk you through the process.

Remember, the deadline to complete the online survey is January 14, 2019
Each hub participating in the study is automatically entered to win a RoboCoupe Food Processor – a handy item for food hub operators that prepare, cut, slice, and dice local food!

One winner will be selected from the survey participants.

To learn more of the Wallace Centre’s 2014 study and published survey results, click here: Counting Values: 2014 Food Hub Benchmarking Study.