The president of The Neighborhood Harvest, which got its start in Williamsburg, says the company has noticed a huge growth in customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 60% more deliveries in the city of Williamsburg.
The company started making deliveries in the greater Williamsburg area two-and-a-half years ago, as they expanded routes into and out past Hampton and Newport News, said Thomas Vandiver, president of the Neighborhood Harvest and an alumnus of the College of William & Mary, Class of 2013.
Prior to the pandemic, the business averaged about 250 weekly deliveries in Williamsburg. That’s since risen to about 400 weekly deliveries, Vandiver said.
According to Vandiver, the company has had close to 800 weekly deliveries during the pandemic for the combined service area of Williamsburg, York County, James City County, Poquoson and surrounding areas on the Peninsula.
Stephanie Fowler, director of public relations and marketing for the Neighborhood Harvest, said they are able to vary their greenhouse space to get more products out to customers, because they are working with employees at the greenhouse and their partners farms directly, not through a “national supply chain.”
They’ve also hired additional staff, many of whom were former food services workers who lost their jobs when their restaurants shut down during the pandemic.
“This is an advantage because food service workers are already trained in safe food handling procedures,” she said.
Vandiver attributes the company’s growth to a combination of the increased need for food deliveries during the pandemic, as well asthe addition of new products and product lines, particularly ready-made foods. This includes chef-prepared Italian meals such as lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, meatballs and house-made pasta sauce.
“With the pandemic, we had the opportunity to be missionally driven, to help our current — and so many new — customers get the foods they needed while sheltering in place,” he said in an email. “Particularly for the elderly, the immune compromised, and the busy parents juggling both work and school for their children from home, we could really provide an essential service.”
The Neighborhood Harvest delivers organic produce, meats, dairy and more from local small businesses and farms. The Hampton Roads-based company’s greenhouse, packhouse and main office are located in Suffolk, while its Harvest Kitchen is located in Virginia Beach.
They also partner with The Baker’s Crust for fresh bread from its Virginia Beach bakery, along with popular desserts and more offerings.
It all began as a hydroponic growing class project between Vandiver and his partners in the Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using nutrient-rich water solutions instead of soil.
Vandiver and his partners started the company SmartBasil LLC in 2012, during which they grew basil that they supplied to restaurants and other food service clients. The company then became the Neighborhood Harvest in 2015, Vandiver said.
The Neighborhood Harvest began delivering to customers in the greater Richmond area last week while the company continues to take the necessary precautions against COVID-19. As a retail food producer, Vandiver said that his employees have always been diligent about hand washing and using Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE.
On top of those practices, cleaning protocols have increased at “every level of the business, from the office to the greenhouse and packhouse,” and vans are also sanitized throughout each delivery week, Vandiver said. Neighborhood Harvest delivery drivers have additional masks, gloves and other PPE equipment on the job, along with hand sanitizer.
The company has also temporarily stopped its corporate recycling program, which includes recycling customers’ plastic clam shells and egg cartons, to prevent possible contamination.
The company still reuses glass bottles from milk deliveries. Customers are asked to wash the bottles with soap before they are collected, and Homestead Creamery, the company’s dairy provider, sanitizes them, Vandiver said.
“We source food that is healthy and grown safely, then we handle and deliver it safely every step of the way, assuring that the products we deliver to our customers are safe and healthy,” Vandiver said.
Visit the Neighborhood Harvest website for more information.
Alex Perry, 757-285-9397, alexander.perry@virginiamedia.com
