Local Food, grab and go; hard work pays off

Jeff Green | Oct 14, 2020

Fourteen years ago, Kim Perry opened Local Family Farms/Food Less Traveled in Verona. Opening the store was a natural progression for Perry, after being integrally involved in the founding of the Frontenac Farmers and the operation of Perry Farms with her husband Dave.

The store is not only an outlet for beef, pork and poultry from Perry Farms and other local producers, it has also been a showcase for local food products from around the region. Almost from the start, and certainly in recent years, savoury pies, fruit pies and entrée’s made with fresh local ingredients have been a major part of the store.

“Our progress as a business has been steady over the years,” Perry said in an interview early one morning last week, as she was cutting onions in preparations for the rush of thanksgiving business that was already overtaking the capacity of the Local Family Farm’s dedicated staff. When COVID-19 hit and then settled in early this spring, that steady increased turned into more of a flood. Not only did the store become a hub for some of the informal community food support networks that sprung up, the demand for local products increased substantially, and the demand for pre-made, grab and go food ramped up as well.

“It’s been busy, really busy, all summer and it hasn’t slowed down. Our regular customers have always supported us, and this summer and into the fall we have seen new customers. With everything that has been going on, some people are saying they known about us for years, but now they have time to stop in. They appreciate that we use local produce I our kitchen, that everything is made from scratch, that the products on the shelves are not mass produced somewhere.

“The pandemic has been hard on us. It has brought so much extra work to keep everything sanitized and keep everyone safe, but luckily the staff working here have been up to it and the customers appreciate it.”

Christine Lavallee opened the Cookery, just south of Inverary, three years ago. It was her second Inverary business, having opened a convenience store in the village a couple of years earlier. The new business was a leap of faith, jumping into a new complex that had been build by local developer Jody Campbell. With a new space, she was able to build a custom kitchen and store space to provide grab and go options for busy commuters heading into or out of Kingston each day.

Business at the Cookery started to pick up over time, as did the retail complex, which is home to 24-hour gas pumps and Chan’s Pharmasave as well.

“I was talking to Pam [her longest serving employee who has been with her since the convenience store days] at the beginning of the year, saying that we have the business in a perfect position to have a very strong year. We know our market well, we have a strong customer base, good chefs and staff, and with so many people moving to the area we were ready to be really busy this year,” she said earlier this week. Again, when COVID-19 hit, the Cookery was ready to take on an even more prominent role for people looking to pick up quality, locally sourced and freshly cooked food. And they were able to adjust to the new COVID-19 protocols and marketplace. “Before this happened, about 80% of our customers would come into the store and order their meal or pick up, a frozen meal or soup from the freezer. The other 20% would call in their order and we would have it ready for them when they arrived to pick it up. Now it is about 50%-50%. And some people prefer to order over and pay over the phone and use our curb-side pickup service”

The Cookery also altered its hours when COVID hit.

“We use to be open very early in the morning for the commuter traffic but during the lockdown people were not headed off to work so we started opening later. Now we are open from 8am-7:30pm every day. It is much better for our staff to open at 8am instead of 6am, so we are going to keep those hours.

The Cookery has also been working on a new website which incorporates online ordering and online payment since before the pandemic hit, and it will be up and running in the coming weeks.

“No-one is happy about 2020,” said Christine Lavallee, “even though we were already in a position for the new way of serving because our business is all about takeout and we never had to close, all of sanitizing and PPE are expensive and time consuming, making long days feel even longer. But we are used it now, and yes we have done well. It has been less of an adjustment for us than it has been for sit-down restaurants for sure, but we all need to support all of the businesses that are struggling.”

The increased sales for both the Cookery and Local Family Farms has also led to increased employment. They have both doubled their staffing over the past year, and expect to be hiring more people in the future.

While both businesses are very busy in the summer, they serve year round residents more than seasonal residents so neither expect to see a significant slow-down over the fall and winter months.

And while COVID has been partly responsible for introducing them to new customers they expect those relationships to continue once the pandemic ends.