Fortifying the Heartland: My Christmas Wish for Hy-Vee.

This week’s delusion is pretending our grocery stores don’t have a weak point. This week’s re-illusion is remembering that strength comes from building on what already works, not acting like we’re starting from scratch. Hy-Vee does a really good job bringing in local barbecue sauces, jams, honey, and other value-added foods from the Heartland. We’re […]

Local value-added products aren’t cute. They’re insurance.

People act like small batch is a hobby. Nope. Every bottle from a small farmer is a value-added product inside a value food chain. That chain is made of humans, not container ships. If global trade gets tariffed to death, or the truckers strike, or a war kicks off, or a fuel shortage hits, or […]

The rising tide lifts all boats.

We can support our competitors! Its ok to cheer each other on!!! I’m hard wired for this, but I should take more time to  explain why…  Because if your niche is tiny, you don’t need to “win the market,” you need to grow the market. A niche doesn’t get big because one company dominates it. […]