Michigan Farm to Freezer

We are a community-based flash freezing processor of all-Michigan fresh produce sourced from local farmers to preserve its nutrients and flavors before packaging it for local schools, grocery stores, community feeding programs, and restaurants. 

We started out as a workforce development program of Goodwill Northern Michigan, operating out of a Goodwill incubator facility in Traverse City, Michigan, to freeze and package small batches of local produce. Our customers were mainly concentrated in the northwestern Lower Peninsula region, and even while outsourcing to some area processors who were willing to freeze in their smaller batches to help meet demand, business took off to the point that our president and owner, Brandon Seng and his partner and Farm to Freezer manager, Mark Coe needed more capacity and space.

Around the same time we formed a partnership with Detroit’s historic Eastern Market, which welcomes vendors from all over with produce, meats, cheeses, flowers and a variety of other products. Eastern Market Corporation (EMC) was awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services under the Community Economic Development Healthy Food Financing Initiatives for strategies reconnecting the local food system. A portion of this grant allows our Farm to Freezer program to lease and renovate a 14,000-square foot freezer facility, which is located at 1820 Mack Ave. This space had been vacant for 10 years and previously housed Cattleman’s Meat.

“The Farm to Freezer concept is simple and is one that generations before us put into practice … when produce was abundant, they saved and stored it for use when it wasn’t as readily available.” says Seng. “Our expansion to Detroit will help increase access to nutritious food by connecting our state’s fruit and vegetable resources with some of our community’s most pressing needs – nutritious food and jobs.”
Today, we source our local, nutrient-dense fruits and veggies from around 30 Michigan farms, and counting, to produce a full lineup of products that sell at retail grocery locations throughout the state and provide our product for more than 60 school districts along with institutional customers.

So, that’s our story so far! Please give our fruits and veggies a try are share your recipes and feedback. We love hearing from our community of people that enjoy and appreciate the flavor and heartiness of our Michigan field ripened fruits and veggies. 

Eat the rainbow! ;)