A small farm can grow excellent food and still struggle to reach the schools, hospitals, and grocers that buy at scale. A single food hub helps, but on its own it carries a limited catalog and a short season. The big buyers want a full list, year-round, from one reliable source.
The Northwest Food Hub Network links three farmer-owned cooperatives across two states: Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative in Mount Vernon, Washington, Local Inland Northwest Cooperative in Spokane, and Western Montana Growers Cooperative in Missoula. By trading inventory hub to hub, each one can offer a fuller catalog across more of the year than it could reach alone.
Mission West leads the network and has become a nationally recognized voice in food hub development. The approach puts the sixth cooperative principle, cooperation among cooperatives, to practical use: each hub keeps its own brand and mission while sharing the supply chain that reaches institutional buyers.
In 2024 the network moved nearly 100 hub-to-hub inventory transactions, supported more than 400 jobs across farms and food hubs, and generated over $2 million in new sales to community institutions. More than 200 farmers and ranchers reached markets that had been out of reach on their own.
