We Strive to Maintain the Following Core Values

Fresh Fork is....

• Green
• Fresh Fork Market has gone to extreme lengths to implement a green supply chain solution.  Some of our strategies include:
• Reusable shipping crates made of recycled plastic  – This reduces the waxed-cardboard that goes to our landfills. Waxed Cardboard is not biodegradable or compostable. 
• Biodegradable Liner Bags – For food safety reasons, the “surface of original contact” that our product touches must be sanitary.  As a result, we have custom-made bio-degradable (not simply compostable) liner bags.
• Cooler Boxes save energy – Instead of running large refrigerated trucks, we have custom built large cooler boxes to allow us to ship product in smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles when possible.  Because a vehicle can only make so many stops in the time frame which restaurants receive orders, it is more efficient to use smaller vehicles.  A cargo van can get in excess of 12 miles to the gallon (still terrible) but much better than a reefer truck which gets 4 to 6 miles to the gallon, especially considering that the refrigerated unit runs on diesel. 
• Less Spoilage, Less Greenhouse Gasses – As product decays, it creates methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.  Where our competitors may have 30% spoilage, our product has 0%.  This reduces the methane created by decay.
• No Inventory = Less Energy Consumed – Large refrigerated facilities require excessive amounts of energy.  We only run our cooler 2 nights of the week – when product is in it.  This means that we run a cooler 16 hours as opposed to 672 hours (1 week).  This reduces greenhouse gasses. 
• Local
• Fresh Fork Market is the definition of Local because:
• All products come from within 75 miles
• Our outsourced logistics is an independent local business
• Buying local puts money back into the pockets of local farmers and the local businesses which provide services to us.
• Sustainable
• Fresh Fork Market practices sustainable practices beyond simply being “green”
• We target farmers who practice “sustainable” practices.  These practices include:
• Pesticide free
• Organic or “commercial fertilizer free.”  Most commercial fertilizers are petroleum based…I don’t think we need to explain why that isn’t sustainable.
• Utilize effective crop rotation, cover crops, composting and recycling
• Integrated Pest Management – utilize the “food chain” to introduce a variety of predator insects to eat the pest insects. 
• Local food systems are more sustainable by the nature of their system.  For example, think of the risks associated with:
• Large yield agri-business that relies on a similar genetic strand of crops. If a disease strikes this strand, it can be disastrous to our food system.
• Long-Distance Shipping – transporting products cross-country or internationally requires large amounts of fuel and produces large amounts of waste/spoilage
• Maintaining high-yield production is disastrous to soil fertility and requires excessive amounts of petroleum.   -  It is not only unnatural to add synthetic fertilizers to soil, but it is also dangerous to the long-term production capabilities of the soil.  Plants require the nutrients from the earth.  Agri-business requires that farmers push the soil past nature’s limit.  This requires petroleum based fertilizers and doesn’t allow the soil to “recover.”  The next crop is then not properly nourished and its fruits/products are not as nutritionally dense.
• Fresh
• Fresh Fork Market delivers products within 24 hours of harvest. 
• Our supply chain solution holds no inventory.
• Restaurants have the freedom to purchase from any supplier they select.
• Products are not harvested until they are purchased. 
• Highest quality
• Fresh Fork Market only sources the highest quality ingredients.
• Our farmers care about their products; this which means that they pick and sort them by hand. Only a human being can provide the quality we desire.
• Fresher products maintain their high quality.
• Shorter shipping distance reduces the “abuse” which products absorb during handling.
• Products are ripened on the vine, not in coolers!  Our product is harvested at the peak of its growth and flavor.
• Flavorful
• Fresh Fork Market products are more flavorful because:
• They are ripened in the field, not in a truck or cooler.
• Products are grown for their flavor, not to be durable for shipping purposes. Some commercial varieties are grown for their durability, thick skins, and firmness to allow them to endure longer shipments and the abuses of handling.
• Fresher Ingredients are tastier!
• Nutritionally Dense
• Fresh Fork Market products are nutritionally dense
• They are aged on the vine; therefore they receive their full nutritional content before being harvested.
• Products lose their nutrients as they age.  A Fresh Fork product is 24 hours old when delivered; as a result, it has the maximum nutritional content.
• Nutritionally dense products are healthier!
• Nutritionally dense products are more fulfilling.  Your body needs nutrients.  When it receives all it needs, it is then “full.”  Eat less and be healthier.

Our Address:

3597 Gottschee Court
Brunswick OH 44212