Episode 149: Eric Velji of Forerunner Foods - Woodstock, GA. Importance of Building Relations with Suppliers & Clients. Truly Food From Farm to Fork. Lack of Money is Your Advantage. Nutrient Density.

Forerunner Foods was born when owner Eric Velji got tired of the large corporate world in which he worked. He was tired of the bureaucracy, the red tape, the chain of command, but most importantly the way large companies have procedures that don’t make sense but they aren’t changed because it is “how we’ve always done it” Motivated by burnout and ready for a change, Eric went back to a personal passion: growing, sourcing, prepping, and cooking local food. With the goal of running his own farm, Eric conducted a lot of research around how a small farm can be financially stable. It is one of the toughest situations local farmers face. Most only have sales outlets at local farmers markets, which is great on a nice day and crippling on a rainy day. Eric realized wholesale was the way to go, but one farmer couldn’t meet the demand of local chefs. Thus Forerunner Foods was born. Forerunner Foods began exclusively to source local produce from small family owned farms directly for chefs and has grown into a full service restaurant supplier, specialty purveyor, importer of exotics, and coming soon the logistics behind a farm to table home produce subscription. Everything to date has been built on the idea that everyone should eat local, everyone should eat seasonal, and that small independent restaurants need all the help they can get to compete with the big chains. Hosted By: Deborah Michas (IG: @deborahmichas) & Justin Ryan Bizzarro (IG: @justinbizzarro) Free Podcast. No Advertisements. The stories of Food, Beverage and Nutrition Entrepreneurs and how their failures led to the successes in their lives and in their business. What does the future have in store for the food, beverage, and nutrition entrepreneur? JUSTIN AND THE [FOOD] ENTREPRENEURS Email: [email protected] Instagram: @justinandthefoodentrepreneurs ( #foodentrepreneurs ) All music is scored by host or royalty free.