About seven years ago Erin Hoffman and her husband Gregg made a lifestyle change.
Seeing how pesticides and preservatives had affected children, the couple decided to switch their three young daughters, and themselves, to a more organic diet.
There was just one problem — the supply for all-natural foods was lacking in Culpeper.
“Personally I was driving to different places — Charlottesville, Warrenton, Fredericksburg — to get access to some of the foods we’re carrying,” Erin Hoffman said. “Culpeper doesn’t have a natural food store and I just decided if nobody else was going to bring one, I would.”
That thought crossed the Hoffmans’ minds last year and by October they had a business plan in place with their partner Chadwick Perkey. Four short months later and the Hoffmans had introduced Native Harvest, located in the Duke Street Shopping Center, Culpeper.
The natural foods market has a wide array of organic and fresh and local items, giving Culpeper the first store of its kind.
“What we really kind of envision ourselves to be is a year-round farmer’s market, where people have access to natural foods and organic meats,” Erin said. “A lot of people are getting their beef at the farm or at the farmer’s market. What we’ve done is we’ve brought them here and consolidated them in one place. Our goal is to have as much local as we possibly can.”
The plan started when Gregg began looking to purchase local grass-fed beef for his family.
“What we did originally was we went out on a quest, I had a crazy notion that I could go out to local farmers and purchase a whole animal that was raised in a manner that I would like them to be,” Gregg said. “What I found out pretty quickly was that these farmers had a good product with the quality of their meat, but they didn’t really have a way to deliver it to me, the customer. So what started off as a personal search on our own family basis, kind of quickly snowballed into a business plan.”
Two of those farms now sell their meats at Native Harvest. Lakota Ranch, in Remington, sells its grass-fed beef at the store and Pleasant Hill Farm’s pork will be available.
“People are coming for the meats,” Erin said. “It’s the organic, grass-fed meats and it removes chemicals from their diet too.”
Since there are government regulations on buying raw and fresh milk from the farm, the couple has teamed up with Trickling Springs Creamery, in Chambersburg, Pa., to offer milk, heavy cream, and ice cream.
Another driving factor in the store is providing gluten-free products for the community. Perkey was diagnosed with a gluten allergy, which made him aware of a need in the community.
“There’s some stores that have a gluten free section, but we have so much that it would have been almost the whole store,” Erin said with a laugh.
The store stocks a wide array of items, from Late July brand organic cookies and crackers to several vegetarian offerings to freeze-dried fruits strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe.
“When we first started this, we weren’t sure how many (vegetarians) were in town or who would be seeking what,” Erin said. “They’re requesting tofu and non-meat products they can’t get anywhere else.”
Erin, a 1992 graduate of CCHS, and Gregg, a 1994 CCHS grad, live in the town of Culpeper with their children Caymon Clemons, 16, Savanah Clemons, 11 and Chloe Hoffman, 6 and have their own garden. They hope, once the growing season starts, to provide produce and purchase produce from local farmers as well.
“It’s been amazing since we’ve opened the doors how many locals have come in saying ‘I make soap, I do bread,’ all these products and they’re excited because now they have an outlet for that,” Erin said.
“We want to support the community and support the local commerce and this way we can.”
They also want to help provide farmers a forum to answer questions from community members.
“Our other goal is to educate,” Erin said. “We’ve left some space back here open so we can have some seminars. Just little classes so we can teach people and bring in some local farmers who can teach people the process.”
The Hoffmans said the business has been a labor of love, using recycled materials from other natural food stores. Gregg built the produce stand and they’ve essentially built the store from the ground up.
“Blood, sweat and tears have gone in here and we’re very proud,” Erin said. “People come in and they say ‘oh, this is wonderful we’re so excited.’ That’s been the response these past two weeks.”
The store is the first retail location built in the 11-storefront, two-story, joining office spaces occupied by Virginia Broadband.
“We did a lot of searching for places and we thought about the downtown area,” Erin said. “When people have chosen to eat this way, they’ll find us. They’ll seek us out, it’s a destination.
“We want to help the town develop this end of things because there’s not much out here,” Erin said.
The store, which hosted its grand opening on Saturday, has received a positive response so far from the community and was bustling with visitors before the official opening.
“The best part has been making the contacts with the local farmers and getting involved with the community,” Gregg said. “It’s not just about us and our family but it’s about all the lives we touch with our customers and our partnerships with the farmers.”
Want to go?
What: Native Harvest, a natural foods market
Where: Duke Street Shopping Center
Offers: Gluten-free products, all-natural products, grass-fed beef from Lakota Ranch
Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Contact: 540-317-5569 or email info@nativeharvestmarket.com
Online: nativeharvestmarket.com or on Facebook at nativeharvestmarket
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