• by Steve Ellwanger , October 6, 2021

Can a “virtual farmer’s market” help support real farmers who are facing financial hardship across the country?

The 112-year-old Tillamook County Creamery Association has planted the seeds of such an effort in a partnership with online kitchen and home platform Food52.

For the second consecutive year, the farmer-owned cooperative Tillamook—which markets cheese, ice cream and other dairy products—is promoting its All For Farmers initiative across a variety of media platforms.

All For Farmers was established in 2020 with a $1.6 million donation from Tillamook to benefit American Farmland Trust’s Brighter Future Fund grant program.

This year, Tillamook has formed the All For Farmers Coalition to amplify public awareness of the issues that threaten the livelihood of many U.S. farms—including lack of access to land, unpredictable weather and COVID-19.

The “virtual” All For Farmers market resides on the Food52, website where shoppers can peruse a curated collection of foods and other items. At least 10% of sales benefit the American Farmland Trust—along with 100% of proceeds from the sale of a specially created apron.

This All For Farmers campaign video from the 72andSunny agency explains how a thin strip of irrigation pipe at All For Farmers beneficiary Aloha Redland Farm in Homestead, Florida helps prevent avocados “from becoming toast—and not in a good way.”

Campaign commercials are running programmatic across a variety of digital media platforms including Food52, Vox, Eater, Bon App, Tasty and SheKnows.

“Building a custom market for Tillamook on Food52 was a dream endeavor,” Food52 founder and CEO Amanda Hesser tells Marketing Daily.

According to Tillamook vice president of brand marketing Sue Kapllani, the Food52 partnership was meant to attract more food lovers to the effort to assist farms.

“Sharing our rallying-cry content with Food52’s community of highly engaged individuals that live by the value of eating thoughtfully just made sense,” says Kapllani.

In addition to funds raised through the All For Farmers Coalition, Tillamook has committed $500,000 to underwrite the program over the next two years.

Last year, the American Farmland Trust’s Brighter Future Fund awarded 130 grants to farmers in 25 states.

Oregon-based Tillamook is owned by some 80 farming families. Tillamook Creamery is the largest tourist attraction on the coast of Oregon, attracting some 1.3 million people annually.