The collaborative marketing initiative Eat Local Grey Bruce is sharing lessons how they deal with rapid growth during these times of COVID-19. Eat Local is an online farmers market that sells food online to consumers, then aggregates orders to their warehouse where they pack individual orders and deliver to houses and pickup locations. Eat Local is a not-for-profit cooperative with a broad vision of an ecological food system and a mission to build a community that supports farmers and consumers, and regenerates the environment.

The webinar first summarizes the onset and evolution of the cooperative since its inception in 2016. Then, we present how the crisis has boosted an unprecedented growth that came with many challenges and also new opportunities. Aspects include operational strategies for a two-fold increase in sales volume, strategies to expand warehousing capacity within given infrastructure, staff training and management, and a shift to strict but pragmatic epidemiological food handling practices. The webinar is hosted by Thorsten Arnold, instigator and designer of the coop, and Jeannine Kralt, current manager.