The Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative will celebrate the opening of its new cold storage facility Aug. 10, at 11 a.m. at the cooperative’s facility, E502 State Highway 54 in Waupaca.
The new facility represents a milestone in the Cooperative’s work to build a more efficient and resilient statewide food system. Expanded cold storage capacity will help Wisconsin-grown food move more reliably from small and medium-scale farms to schools, food pantries and community-based food programs throughout the state.
“This ribbon cutting represents far more than the opening of a new facility,” said Tara Roberts-Turner, Manager of the Food Hub. “Cold storage is a critical link in a statewide system that helps Wisconsin farmers reach dependable markets while ensuring that schools, pantries and community organizations can access fresh, nutritious food more efficiently. We are deeply grateful to the USDA and our philanthropic partners for investing in the infrastructure needed to make this possible.”
The new facility will support the continued development of the Regional Transportation Cooperative, or RTC, a regional hub-and-spoke transportation network created by the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative. By coordinating routes and making fuller use of available truck capacity, the network is designed to reduce transportation costs by as much as 25 percent while decreasing duplication, fuel consumption, labor costs and food waste.
The initiative also provides essential infrastructure and market access for Wisconsin’s small and medium-scale farmers. The statewide system has supported 108 farmers, reached all 72 Wisconsin counties and facilitated the purchase and distribution of approximately $4.2 million in fresh, Wisconsin-grown food.
The ribbon-cutting event will include a brief program recognizing the philanthropic partners and the USDA for their support in bringing the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative to this important point in its development. Guests will also be invited to tour the new facility and learn more about plans to continue expanding the Super Transportation Cooperative’s regional network.
