After almost a decade of delivering fresh produce to neighborhoods throughout Hampton Roads, The Neighborhood Harvest has suspended its retail home delivery services.
A notification on the Suffolk-based company’s website alerted customers that its final deliveries were Aug. 9.
While the business said in the announcement it made the difficult decision to stop bringing weekly and monthly fresh, local produce and chef-made meals to doorsteps, the company will continue to focus on combating food insecurity throughout Hampton Roads.
CEO John Stein said the business will still provide meals to seniors through Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia and Jewish Family Service. The business remains committed to providing more than 80,000 nutritious meals yearly for aging adults or people experiencing food insecurity.
“We’re pivoting the business to cater more towards this type of mission work,” Stein said. “We just are really proud to be able to make food and provide it to people in need.”
The business began in 2012 when former president and chief executive Thomas Vandiver developed it as a project while he was a student at William & Mary.
It began with Vandiver, Stein and another former employee, Eric Coble, as they established a hydroponic basil greenhouse in Suffolk. That blossomed into a lettuce and microgreen delivery company and farm-to-family delivered products followed. From there, the fruits of their labor grew and grew.
The company’s retail segment included delivery to thousands of doorsteps from Virginia Beach and southern Chesapeake to Smithfield and Williamsburg and parts of Richmond and Charlottesville.
During the pandemic, The Neighborhood Harvest’s numbers grew exponentially as people sheltered at home and shopped more via e-commerce and delivery.
Customers were able to choose from a selection of meats, dairy, eggs, bread, craft beverages, pantry staples, local vegetables and small-batch gourmet meals — all stored cold and delivered to their doorsteps with the click of a button. All products were sourced from a network of more than 30 farms.
But, post-pandemic, Stein said those numbers declined and the retail model — in a rather competitive market — proved to be a difficult one to maintain.
“While this marks the end of an era for our retail deliveries, we’re filled with hope for the future,” Neighborhood Harvest said in its online note to customers.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
