Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 08/09/2018

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Locally Grown According to a report from National Restaurant Association, 56% of consumers say their primary reason for preferring locally sourced food is that it supports farms and producers in their communities. Hence, locally grown food and products are a major attraction an incubator can capitalize on to bring customers in. Ramsey should contact locally grown food vendors to assess their interest in participating in an incubator. We found locally grown organizations were especially difficult to initiate contact with, likely due to the seasonal nature of their work coupled with the fact that the survey was conducted in early March. However, the ones we did manage to contact indicated that storage and the high prices of equipment were barriers that would serve as a detriment to their expansion. The other goal of the survey of locally grown organizations was to determine their potential interest in workforce development programs a kitchen incubator could offer. Responses to this question were mixed, but respondents were most interested in a supply of long-term employees. Food trucks Food trucks are another collaborative part of food incubators. A list of food truck vendors in Minnesota was compiled to conduct a survey. Venders were contacted to gauge how many are interested in branching out to Ramsey. Reponses have been very limited. More labor supply discussions should be carried out in relevant areas. We sought to interview food trucks, both within and outside of Minnesota, as potential tenants for the City's food incubator. We saw the potential of food trucks accessing the incubator as both an increased kitchen space and as a prospective location for establishing themselves in a brick -and -mortar space. The Wandering Mug, which is a food truck that operates in primarily Minneapolis and St. Paul, were asked why they chose to operate in the cities they do. They responded: • [We] follow the large events around because that's where the big money is. • St. Paul has the least restrictive licensing and is easy to work for street sales The key point here is reducing the restriction in licensing. This preference to work in less restrictive environments is likely one shared by other food trucks in Greater Minnesota and should be noted by the City of Ramsey. Grill Works Truck, which also operates primarily within the Twin Cities, was asked about obstacles in expanding their service area. They answered: • None of my identified locations (Minneapolis -St. Paul). 1 have run into problems in other cities as those cities don't want food trucks. This point raised by Grill Works is notable— if people in the CDA do not want a food truck, then food trucks attempting to operate there will not succeed. Ramsey lacks the sheer population numbers of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but also lacks an established 12