Site Updates

How-To FoodHub: Four Great Messaging Features to Help You Connect

Monday, April 23rd, 2012 by Megan

Getting in touch with other FoodHub Members is easier than ever with the newest round of updates to the FoodHub Message Center. Check out these four easy ways to communicate and connect.

Take Advantage of One-to-Many Messaging:

Now, just like your regular email inbox, you can send a single message to multiple contacts with just the click of a button.

From a new message click Add Recipients or, if you know exactly who should be on the list, just start typing their name in the ‘To:’ box.

From your contact list, select the contacts you want to message and click ‘Add to Message’ to continue editing your email.

Sellers: Use this feature along with FoodHub’s Hot Sheet builder to quickly communicate product availability to your connections! What’s a Hot Sheet? Watch this video to learn more. (more…)

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New Search Tool Helps Buyers Find Local Ingredients in a Flash

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 by Megan

This past September FoodHub launched it’s Member survey. When we got the results back from our buyer Members the feedback was almost unanimous: Make it easier to search for and find local food. We started working right away to make search easier, more intuitive and faster than its ever been and we’re proud to roll out what we came up with.

Now, we know that change can take some getting used to so, to help you get started, here are the top five must-use features of FoodHub’s new search function:

1. Search right from your dashboard.
It’s big, it’s green, it’s beautiful – it’s the product search box at the top of the page right when you log in. Just type and go or select one of your saved searches to find new producers.

New search helps you find local ingredients right from the dashboard

(more…)

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5 Reasons to Do the FoodHub Member Survey (and maybe win an iPad!)

Friday, November 4th, 2011 by Megan

Giving feedback as a Member of FoodHub is easy. There’s a bright green feedback button on every page and you can call 855-FOODHUB or email meet@food-hub.org, but once per year there’s a chance to get it all out at once. The FoodHub Member Survey will be coming your way soon and you could win an Apple iPad 2 just for filling it out!

We’re really excited about the Member survey – we love hearing about how Members are using the site, what can be enhanced, and what should be ditched – it also defines both our to-do list and our budget allocations for next year. It will take only minutes to complete and your feedback will benefit the entire community. Not only that, but you could win an iPad just for participating!

Here area five reasons why you should jump on the survey link as soon as it hits your inbox:

  1. Tools and features will be updated and improved according to your needs. Wish the search tool worked differently? Want to do something different with the Marketplace? The Member survey provides opportunities to give feedback on tools currently on the site – which do you use most, what’s working well, what needs improvement, and how to make the whole thing sing for you.
  2. Your idea could be the next big thing! FoodHub is still in the very early stages of its development – your ideas have a major impact!
  3. Help shape the voice of this region’s food sector. There are a lot of people who are curious about what’s going on in the FoodHub community. Your story is crucial to painting a picture of the food that moves throughout the western region of the US.
  4. Your feedback will help determine FoodHub’s future. This survey isn’t just about features and tools, we want your input on big-picture decisions too. Would you like to see FoodHub membership extended throughout the nation? Should we let individual eaters in on the action? Do you want your profile to be accessible by the public at large, not just FoodHub Members? Inquiring minds want to know.
  5. Did we mention we’re giving away an iPad?! And you could win just by participating.  One lucky Member will be drawn at random for sharing their voice through the Member survey.

Watch your inbox, the survey link will be coming soon…

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How-To FoodHub: Using the Marketplace

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 by Leora

Create a PostThe FoodHub Marketplace is a buyer’s best friend for fast local foraging! Take advantage of great deals, see what’s ripe right now, and scope potential forward contracts. Looking for something specific? Post a “Wanted” listing and let sellers come to you. It’s easy – log into FoodHub, click on Marketplace and use the filters on the left side to narrow the listings to those most relevant to you. Click the “Create a Post” button to let sellers know what you need.

Sellers: use the Marketplace to move perishable product quickly! Post a “For Sale” listing to move product you’ve got a lot of right now, give buyers’ a head’s up about what’s coming on soon, or take advance orders for product available later in the year. Just log into FoodHub, visit Marketplace and click the “Create a Post” button to get started. You can also filter the listings to view just the “Wanted” posts to find buyers looking for what you have. Need help with transport or distribution? Post what you need in the “Transport” section of Marketplace to look for potential collaborators.

FYI, Marketplace isn’t just for food products, it’s also a great go-to resource to post or learn about events, workshops, and other services to support your business. Visit the [Transport] tab to find out about potential load-share opportunities. Check out the [Services] section for non-food posts such as animal feed and farm implements, restaurant supplies and other business services. The [Events and Announcements] tab is the perfect place to find or promote events, classes, workshops and meetings.

Need a little help? Watch a tutorial video on using the Marketplace, or get in touch:

FoodHub Help Desk

Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm
meet@food-hub.org
Toll-free: 855-FOODHUB

Posted in Misc Morsels, Site Updates | 2 Comments »

FoodHub 3.0: What’s New

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 by Amanda

FoodHub is now easier and more robust than ever! Every major functional area of the site has been lovingly massaged by our dedicated team of engineers to make finding connections and doing business faster, more efficient and more intuitive. Here’s the complete rundown of improvements, details below:

  • Updated primary navigation
  • Advanced product search
  • Improved Marketplace
  • New distance slider
  • Enhanced profile features
  • Upgraded memberships
  • Advertising & promotional opportunities
  • New FoodHub Knowledge Base
  • Expanded Help (more…)

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FREE Forever

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 by Amanda

It was announced to FoodHub Members this morning: FoodHub will always be FREE!

FoodHub is now FREE

We started offering free FoodHub memberships in February to test whether eliminating the fee significantly increased membership, and therefore connections, for everybody in the community.

Good news, it worked!

Membership in FoodHub has tripled since we started the test and the stories of successful connections have been rolling in…

FoodHub Fast Start

So we’re declaring “mission accomplished” on the test and rolling out a permanent FREE membership next month called FoodHub FastStart. This membership includes ALL the features and functionality available now, plus some great improvements slated to roll out in the July launch (details on those coming soon).

All FoodHub Members will automatically roll into the free FastStart account, no data or history will be lost. All 2,225+ Members will continue to have full access to the Member Directory and Marketplace and pay NO fees, ever.

FoodHub Advantage

Also coming in July will be two new account types. FoodHub Advantage is a monthly membership that helps Members stand out from the crowd and get found faster. Advantage Members will get:

  • Member listing highlighted in color in the Member Directory and in all product search results, plus all Marketplace posts highlighted to stand out from the crowd.
  • Add multiple photos in a photo gallery on their profile to tell their story in living color.
  • Upload documents (such as recipes, price lists, certification paperwork, event registration forms, etc.) to create an engaging profile and start interacting with potential clients immediately.
  • 10% discount on all promotional bookings.

The Advantage account is only $14.99 per month and requires no long-term commitment.

FoodHub All-Access

The second new account type, FoodHub All-Access, provides just what the name implies: everything FoodHub has to offer! The All-Access membership helps not only get found quickly and easily, but also get down to business faster. All-Access Members will get:

  • Everything in Advantage, PLUS
  • Embed videos on their profiles to immerse potential contacts in their world.
  • List business references on their profile to garner instant credibility.
  • Collect email addresses to build their own mailing list.
  • Set Marketplace listings to automatically re-post so they can stay top of mind, effortlessly.

The All-Access membership is by far the best value, at only $129 for the whole year! Satisfaction will be guaranteed, so there’s no risk in giving it a try.

FoodHub has amassed a truly incredible group of local food professionals as Members. We’re so proud to work with them and very excited to offer a permanent free membership so that everyone in the region can use FoodHub!

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Improved Profile Format Launched!

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 by Giselle

In our ongoing quest to make FoodHub the fastest, easiest, most efficient and friendliest way to connect wholesale food buyers, sellers and supporters online, we rolled out an update to the profile format today.

FoodHub profiles now:

(more…)

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New membership category for Associates

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 by Amanda

The work of FoodHub isn’t complete, nor will it be successful, without the participation and involvement of all who support, advocate for, and serve the food and agriculture trades. Up to this point there hadn’t been a membership category for “Associates” – those that support the food and agricultural community but don’t necessarily buy or sell food products. Good news, now there is!

We’re just getting started, but certifiers, farmers’ market managers, government agencies, NGOs, trade associations, commodity commissions, industry suppliers and more can now join FoodHub as Associate members. Best of all, membership is FREE! Click here to register your organization as a new Associate Member of FoodHub. You’ll get in on the ground floor and be perfectly positioned to help shape the growth of this new membership category. We’re looking forward to your feedback.

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Letter to Members

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 by Amanda

Dear FoodHub Members,

FoodHub is officially one year old today! Nearly 800 of you – farmers, chefs, ranchers, restaurateurs, fisherman, foodservice directors, and professional food buyers and sellers of all kinds – have gathered in FoodHub during its first year. Connections have been made and more local product has moved within the greater Northwest region as a result of those connections. Today we celebrate your commitment to the regional food economy and applaud the work you do every day to thrive in extremely challenging industries.

We’ve also taken to heart all that you’ve taught us in the last year – your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks entirely to your input, we are announcing some major changes to FoodHub:

FREE

FoodHub can’t successfully facilitate connections among buyers and sellers until there is a critical mass of active Members, not just near FoodHub’s home base, but throughout the region (which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and California).

We’ve heard loud and clear that the $100 membership fee is a barrier for many potential members, and we now believe that barrier is keeping the community from reaching the density so vital to the success of all members. So today we’ve launched a FREE membership test. If the test is successful and the community starts growing rapidly, we may make the change permanent and continue developing other revenue streams to support the community. (Please note: if you paid the full membership fee you will receive a complimentary credit toward paid services. Details will be announced pending the outcome of the test.)

Please help spread the FREE word! If you know someone who would be interested in FoodHub, tell them today to go to www.food-hub.org and register for free. More members will mean more connections and more product moving within the region.

HELP

Another important lesson you taught us is that we need to provide better assistance. Starting next week you’ll get a weekly email, FoodHub’s Fresh Sheet, which, much like a farmer or distributor’s fresh sheet, will provide a quick rundown of what’s hot in the community that week.

Included will be good Marketplace posts you might have missed, updates on seasonal product availability, notification of new Members who might be good connections for you, and announcements of key events in the food and ag industries. You will be able to customize the information you receive so that your FoodHub Fresh Sheet is specifically relevant to your business. Watch your inbox next week!

We’ve also hired two new Membership Coordinators. You can now call the FoodHub Help Desk between 8am and 6pm on any weekday and talk directly with Leora or Megan. They are happy to help you troubleshoot technical problems, suggest ways to improve your profile , help write a Marketplace post, or collect your feedback to pass along to the rest of the team. Please don’t hesitate to make contact!

FoodHub Help Desk: (503) 467-0816 or meet@food-hub.org
Weekdays, 8am-6pm

MUCH MORE TO COME

This really is just the beginning. In the coming weeks and months you will see updates and improvements to FoodHub roll out in pretty rapid fire. We need your engagement now more than ever – please don’t hesitate to email or call us with your reactions, thoughts and ideas. This is your opportunity to shape the future of FoodHub.

Happy birthday. We’re thrilled to be on this journey with you and look forward to an exciting second year.

All best,
Deborah & the FoodHub Team

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Flowers are springing up all over… Even in FoodHub!

Friday, March 5th, 2010 by Lola

You can now add flowers to the list of products that you sell in your FoodHub profile so that potential buyers can find you!

We had received ample feedback from our members that we needed to include cut flowers (even though they aren’t food) within our product listings—and so, just in time for spring, we’ve added both cut and edible flowers to the FoodHub “taxonomy.” Currently, we have not listed individual flower varieties, but instead the larger categories.

We also recently added micro greens to the FoodHub product list. Anyone else suddenly hungry for a salad of greens and spicy nasturtiums!?

FoodHub will continually evolve to meet your needs, so please tell us if you can’t find a product that you buy or sell; if we’re missing an important certification or business type; or if we don’t list your farmers market or distribution partner. Let us know your request by either clicking the green Feedback button of the left side of the FoodHub screen or sending an email to connect@food-hub.org.

Photo by Taylor Schefstrom

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