To bring the bounty of the Hudson Valley to the marketplace in a way that is affordable to buy and profitable to produce would mean packaging the excess harvest for use in a variety of ways.
A pair of entrepreneurs is seeking to do exactly that; and after less than a full season in operation are showing fruitful returns on their work.
“We need a kitchen!” said Luc Roels, of Farm to Table Co-Packers, saying he is echoing the cries from farmers in the region, during discussions about how they could do better economically.?So Roels and his business partner, Jim Hyland, founded Farm to Table Co-packers, a $1.5 million commercial kitchen, flash-freezing and packaging facility at Tech City, in the 21,000-square-foot former cafeteria and kitchen where IBM once served about 7,500 meals daily.
The facility opened in June.?The facility has commercial freezers, automated vegetable washers ingeniously converted from dishwashers used during IBM days, and equipment to flash freeze individual vegetables to retain nutrients and freshness and allow them to be packaged for sale at times and in ways that Hudson Valley farmers could never before take advantage of. There are also facilities to create tomato sauce and salsa, pickles and green beans, as well as an industrial scale bakery facility.
“We”™re creating a regional model so we have to be very inventive,” Hyland said. “We can be a resource for farms to create their own products. And that brings much higher return.”
He cited Migliorelli Farm in Tivoli that provided and packaged frozen corn, peppers and green beans and is selling it under its own label.  He also cited the Heller farm, from Bainbridge, N.Y., which has produced and packaged its own salsa and tomato sauce. ?He said area growers can team with commercial food marketers to create packaged products made  from  goods grown locally and regionally.
Spacey Tracey”™s Pickles uses cucumbers from Migliorelli Farm and Rick”™s Pick”™s uses beans from Clinton, in Dutchess County. The business opportunity is reaching into the big city as well, Hepworth Farms of Milton has produced some 30,000 pounds of tomatoes that will be used to make Brooklyn Salsa.?And opportunities for more business are plentiful, say the partners. “What we have found since we opened is that a facility like this is rare on the whole East Coast,” Â Hyland said. “It is imperative that companies know we are here to partner with.”
So far, he said, inquiries have come from as far away as Florida and Arizona and he said the company welcomes all inquiries so as to create a year-round operation. The company now employs 20 people  and  needs more workers during the peak of the season locally, and needs more customers during the relatively quiet winter. ?He said prospects are enhanced because the facility is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to handle meat products as well as vegetables. So while it is not a slaughterhouse, it can, for example, make and package beef chili.
March Gallagher, deputy director for economic development in Ulster County, said the Farm to Table facility is an ideal addition to the county and to regional agriculture. She said it is too expensive to have such a facility in every town, but said the centrally located and easy to access facility can serve a growing need in two ways: giving farmers an additional outlet and incentive to grow more, while providing Hudson Valley fare to serve the growing local-food movement here and in New York City.
