Food processing center joins producers, consumers

Though only two weeks old, the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center has already caught the attention of local farmers and food entrepreneurs.

Six clients are currently using the facility to manufacture, Facility Manager Matthew Roybal said, and up to 22 have been approved to come in when they’re ready.

Roybal said he expects to have between 32 and 40 clients producing in the facility by 2012.

The center creates a venue for small entrepreneurs to grow their business and promote local agriculture.

Its inauguration was originally scheduled for the spring, but construction delays pushed it back to late October.

The opening started off with a series of speeches given by local politicians and business people, including Noah Ranells, the Orange County agricultural economic development coordinator, and Dina Mills, owner of LunaPops, a business using the center.

The speeches were followed by a “potato cutting,” instead of ribbon, and an open house where attendants tried samples from eight businesses involved in the initiative.

Since the opening, clients have lined up to take advantage of a more cost-efficient way to package and sell their products.

“Our goal is to help these businesses to be sustainable and successful,” Roybal said.

Jonathan Mills and his wife Dina run Wilmington-based LunaPops, which markets its all-natural Popsicles in Chapel Hill and throughout North Carolina. Mills said the center is a great opportunity for their business.

Before the center opened, the Mills had been using a kitchen in the back of their store. Now they are using a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen at a much smaller cost.

“There is a huge up-front capital cost with a small business,” Jonathan Mills said. “Because of this center, we are able to grow much bigger and much faster without as much risk.”

Starting this month, the center will also provide information sessions for clients. Classes will cover accounting, business structure and legal concepts, and distributors and professional chefs will come in to help, Roybal said.

For Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, the project hits close to home.

“I used to be a farmer long before there were any farmers’ markets or anybody talked about organic foods or local food economies,” he said. “I tried to raise food to sell and found out firsthand how difficult it was unless there were receptive markets.”

Connecting local producers with local consumers in Orange County is a process a decade in the making, Jacobs said.

“This is a key component in making that happen.”

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