WELCOME TO THE FORAGE LOCAL COLLECTIVE
A diverse community of entrepreneurs, creators, innovators, and trailblazers.
Basically, folks that don’t settle for the status quo, who want to connect with our community through local commerce.
90% of Americans say shopping local positively impacts their lives.
But 42% feel finding local products is inconvenient, fragmented, and random. While 57% believe cost is a barrier to shopping locally.
Our vision is to create a world where people can connect with their community through easy access to local products + break the myth that local means luxury.
MEMBERS GET…
A Bold Community
You’ll meet local peers through Forage Collective events both social and educational. You’ll be able to connect, collaborate, support, and commiserate.
Professional Marketing
We work with you to feature you and your products with professional photography and copywriting. We advocate for you through media, unique promotional opportunities, and more.
Inventory + Delivery
We stock makers’ inventory, fulfilling orders for you, so you don’t have to be “ON” 24/7. We focus on eco-friendly delivery methods to minimize carbon footprints.
The details…
Eligibility & Product Requirements:
We are committed to showcasing the best locally made goods in Portland and surrounding areas. Our marketplace is built on quality, authenticity, and consistency. To ensure this, all products listed on Forage Local must meet our Locally Made Standards and business expectations:
1. Locally Made Standards: Your products must fall into one of the following three tiers:
Tier 1. Locally Grown & Made
Products where the core ingredients or materials are grown, harvested, or produced locally and crafted into the final product in Portland or nearby.
Example: Honey from a Portland beekeeper, handmade ceramics using locally sourced clay, herbal tea blends with locally grown herbs.
Tier 2. Locally Made
The final product is made in Portland/surrounding areas, but some or all raw materials are sourced externally.
Example: A baker making cookies in Portland using imported vanilla, a soap maker crafting bars locally with oils sourced from outside Oregon.
Tier 3. Locally Designed
The creative process happens locally, but production may involve some external manufacturing.
Example: A local writer that has their book printed elsewhere.
2. Commercially Competitive: The quality of your product is as good or more likely better than similar products you see in store. Your pricing is within a reasonable range of competitive commercial products.
Many local products could be featured in a store but they can’t afford the fees, large minimum quantities, and free product chains demand, or the store simply prioritizes known brand names.
3. Food & beverage products must be shelf-stable/pre-packaged: We are not currently accepting unpackaged fresh food and beverages.
4. Small batch maker to large producer; you can fulfill at least 6 orders of each product listing a month - Due to the resources that go into a single posting (professional photos, copywriting, web development time) and building trust and consistency for shoppers we cannot offer one-off/one-of-a-kind items at this time.
E.g. One earring design/listing can be represented by one photo, ordered by 6 different people in a month, and each will receive nearly identical products. (differences due to being handcrafted are accepted)
**Read about additional T&Cs like our revenue model, return policies, etc. while filling out the application below.**
Makers apply by April 18th to join our launch campaign
We’ll review your application and reach out to you for a digital interview.
If your business is accepted (meets the requirements above), we’ll work with you to create a professional page on Forage Local. Create high-quality photos of your products, and copywriting that highlights you, your story and products in the best light. You’ll be ready to sell on Forage Local!
Thank you for joining the Forage Local community. Please share our website with your friends and family!
- Danielle Kermode, Founder