Local Food Business Certification

If you are somehow involved in bringing food from farms to a retail market, we know you are a vital part of our local food system. Whether an institutional food buyer or service provider, a retail grocer, or a chef, we ask you to consider Piedmont Grown certification. Given the demand for local foods in the market, we feel that the Piedmont Grown logo offers you an easy to recognize symbol that lets your customers know you believe in locally grown, raised, and made farm products.

Recent research conducted by the Piedmont Local Food Community Visioning Process showed that the demand for locally grown farm products in the Piedmont Region is very strong. More and more consumers in communities across the Piedmont of North Carolina are choosing to buy locally grown farm products because they want to know where their food comes from and who grew it.

Our research shows that for consumers in the Piedmont of North Carolina, local food is an important consideration when choosing a grocer or restaurant. Piedmont residents believe that locally produced foods offer higher quality and have indicated that, when locally produced foods cost a little more, they are worth the extra cost. As a local food system business partner in the Piedmont Grown program, you will gain exposure for your food-related business.

The Piedmont Grown label is a certification mark. To protect the integrity of the label and the local food market, farmers, farmers markets, local food system businesses and supporting organizations must meet specific standards and agree to comply with logo-use restrictions. The standards and restrictions are meant to protect the integrity of the label by signing a licensee agreement; the Piedmont Grown label may only be used to represent food and agricultural products grown, raised, or made by certified Piedmont farms.

The Piedmont Grown logo can be made available as a graphic file for use on menus, as window or door stickers, and in poster form for you to use as appropriate. Additionally, profiles of farms can be made available for posting in your business and/or training your wait staff to communicate with diners interested in local products. Partners that sell local farm products can be listed in Piedmont Grown’s online listing.

When displayed with food and farm products, the Piedmont Grown label helps consumers, retailers, and wholesalers easily distinguish local agricultural products from other products.

Piedmont Grown certified local food system businesses can be certified for a fee of $50. All Piedmont Grown licensees can have access to graphics for labels, signage, and promotional materials, and will be eligible for future matching funds for marketing.