PODCAST: Gleaners Taking on Distribution Challenges
IIB's Gerry Dick talks with Gleaners Food Bank Chief Operating Officer Joe Slater.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief operations officer for Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana says the agency moved twice as much food out its doors in 2020 as it did the previous year as demand spiked during the pandemic.
Joe Slater says some of Gleaners’ distribution partners, such as community food banks, saw customer count increase seven times higher from Hoosiers who lost their jobs.
“We distribute through a network of partners, who are giving it out into the community. There are more than 500 customers we handle on a monthly basis who distribute food for us,” Slater explained on this week’s Ag+Bio+Science podcast presented by AgriNovus Indiana.
Slater says the organization also operates a fresh produce sourcing cooperative that collects and distributes fresh produce to nine states.
“It gives us operational complexity,” said Slater, who says the organization has developed partnerships with farmers and farming organizations to recover excess products, preventing it from becoming waste.
“Whether it be dairy or whether it be meat or protein products, usually the produce comes direct from the grower,” explained Slater to podcast and Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “If we need to do some processing on our end to make it consumable or if we need to repackage, we’re building those capabilities into our operation here.”
He says it creates challenges in storage and distribution which is why Gleaners is completing a 40,000-square-foot expansion of refrigerated space.
“We’ve had to figure out how to handle perishable food. It spoils. It goes bad. So, you have to do a better job of forecasting your demand out of sourcing and really managing that supply chain much tighter than we ever had to before.”
The full podcast will be available Monday morning. You can find more information on how you can listen by clicking here.