Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I I N O. V I I A P R I L 3 , 2 0 1 7 6 B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state CashStar co-founder starts digital platform for local foods B y L o r i V a l i g r a P O R T L A N D — CashStar co-founder David Stone's sixth startup, Forager, aims to bring farmers and local grocers into the digital age by tracking everything from procurement to payment online, adding effi ciency to a person-to-person system fraught with scattered slips of paper scribbled with orders and invoices. Forager, which was launched on the fi rst day of spring, March 20, has two sides to the platform. The free one for farmers lists products available and prices. The other one, for a monthly fl at fee, is for local gro- cers, food co-ops and wholesalers to see what prod- ucts are available from which farmers. In both cases, the online platform also lets produc- ers and buyers track orders, invoices and payments. Portland's Freeport Metrics developed the software, and Forager set up and will run the digital platform. "We started Forager because of all the consumer trends going on," Stone, who co-founded digital gift card company CashStar in 2007 and left in 2013 to "reboot," told Mainebiz in an interview before formally launching the company. "There is a change coming [to the food industry] partly driven by urban millennials, who have a relationship with food." Stone said he wondered why only 3% of food on average is bought locally. Maine is ahead of much of the nation at more than 6%, he said. "But that could be 15% in Maine by 2020 or 2021," Stone said. "Some 90% of consumers look for fresh- ness, and 40% now buy local food weekly." The $14 billion market for locally produced food is ripe for expansion, he said. Forager, based in Portland, ran a trial of its plat- form this past summer among about 50 Maine farm- ers and a handful of grocers, including the Portland Food Co-op, Royal River Natural Foods in Freeport and Rosemont Market & Bakery in Portland. The Forager platform is available throughout New England and New York state. "We will continue using it," John Crane, general manager of the Portland Food Co-op, told Mainebiz. "It is well worth the investment." He did not know the fee, but said he expects it to be inexpensive. Stone would not reveal the fl at fee except to say a local order costs 6% to 10% of the total order cost in labor and errors, and "we're charg- ing substantially less than that." Crane, who said his co-op's membership hit 4,000 on March 17, double what it was in November 2014, said that before Forager's platform, co-op staff spent a lot of time dealing with paper invoices written on scraps of whatever was in the truck, including pieces of card- board boxes. During ordering, it wasn't unusual to go back and forth several times by email or on the phone for the six to eight farmers who have the same product. "This is a great next step in what Forager is doing as agriculture is growing," he said. "Our infrastructure has not caught up yet with the growth. When they approached me about a year ago about this concept, I thought, 'this is exactly what I and others needed to bring effi ciency.'" He said the Forager system has saved 6% to 8% in labor and time. "That's signifi cant for us," he added. The co-op, which has 28 employees, expects rev- enue of $3.9 million in calendar 2017, up from $3.75 million last year. About 40% of sales are from local foods and goods, Crane said. Stone added that the average across the United States is 8%. B R I E F 207-774-2635 • perkinsthompson.com We are proud to be a longtime partner of this landmark Portland institution, and celebrate this latest advancement of its mission to provide exceptional and affordable housing for our seniors. Perkins Thompson congratulates The Park Danforth on the grand opening of its new expansion. Melissa Murphy of Perkins Thompson and Denise Vachon, CEO of The Park Danforth E S TA B L I S H E D 1 8 7 1 CashStar co- founder David Stone has launched Forager, an online payment system aimed at farmers and small markets. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F F O R A G E

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