Already a member? Log in at upper right
Not yet a member? Join us for food and fun. Click here

Welcome to our virtual farmers market

Loudoun Flavor is a market filled with carefully selected producers, farmers, chefs and artisans. We represent all the good GREEN things happening in Loudoun and surrounding counties. Each week the market changes to bring you fresh and unique products you won’t find anywhere else. If you are a lover of great food, add a little Loudoun Flavor into your life. WE ARE CURRENTLY TAKING ORDERS FOR OUR CSA SHARES ($100 = 2 big bags of local groceries!) PLEASE EMAIL market@LoudounFlavor.com for assistance.

  • Healthier for your family
  • Preserves green & historic places
  • Supports Hardworking Farmers
  • Better for environment
  • Benefits our local economy

how it works and why people love it!

Click each tab to read the “longer story”
Customer - Buy high quality farm-fresh food at your desk - Pick all of it up at one of our convenient Host Sties (just grab your bag of food and go!)

This is not a CSA investment or a "directory" of Farm Markets. This is a lively online market run by real local folks. Our offerings change each week. Our manager and the advisory committe ensure that only high quality products are offered. You choose only the FRESH items you want and they will be delivered to you at a convenient location.

At our market you can shop any hour of the day from home or work. You have time to compare prices, farming methods and ingredients. Our virtual market handles sales and inquiries simultaneously, so there's no waiting. No check out lines to stand in. No long drive through the rain only to find that the bread you wanted has sold out. Best of all, when you choose to be our customer, your dollars support local families, local schools, local/ethical farms, the beautiful countryside and economy of your county and other parts of Virgnia. That makes you a local hero!

Farmer / Producer / Artisan - We promote & advertise your products to hundreds of local customers. When your items sell, you deliver them to one nearby Host Site. Less Time Selling = More Profit!

You are in good company. We have a selective screening process and only accept high quality goods.

When you join, we will promote and advertise your farm or products in MANY WAYS (via website, newsletter, handouts, etc). Your name & fantastic reputation will soon be known to many!

Our philosophy? The bulk of the profits should stay in your pocket! Ever been to an event where your booth fee was $50-$1000? Losing time from your own farm/business/studio while running a market booth can be expensive. Wholesaling your product can take away 30-70% of your profits. By comparison, the Loudoun Flavor fees are very minor.

How Does it Work:

The Loudoun Flavor Virtual Marketplace handles sales and inquiries for you simultaneously, so vendors don’t lose one shopper while attending to another.  The website does the work for you and customers will get to know your farm via photos and descriptions that you provide us.

Once a week, Farmers/Producers/Artists/Chefs (aka: vendors) login to the website and type in the items they wish to sell (i.e. Winter Squash – 10 pounds - $10.50 Pottery Mug $20 Mini Baguette $2.00)

You will receive sales orders in advance of harvest or production. Then you have two-three days to prepare orders.

Next, simply drop off the goods to the locations you have chosen to be most convenient & go back to work at your farm, studio or kitchen!

No standing in the rain! No hauling, loading unload tent/tables & extra products around.

Hate Computers? Don’t worry, we will help you get started and you will spend very little time on the internet! Sales happen while you are working on other things. Selling handmade homegrown products is what we love to do at Loudoun Flavor!

All we ask is a yearly registration fee ($60) and just 15% of the sale (that helps us cover administrative costs and web/advertising costs).

Best of all - you will be an important part of a community & share a market place full of ideas, support, resources, recipes, farming tips, fairly priced products, occasional discounts or free gifts, pot lucks, communication. There will be financial gain and all of our families will enjoy a bounty of great food! Meanwhile, we will be improving Virginia, one dinner plate at a time.

Small Business - Join our network and tie-in to Loudoun. Other options? Become a Host Site and enjoy lots of on and off-line promotion! Watch new customers walk through your door each week!

Loudoun Flavor is on a mission to create opportunities that result in income for small businesses in Loudoun and surrounding counties. Our market manager has been the owner of several small businesses and understands the challenges. With the downshift in our economy, more than ever, small business owners need to be innovative and network with those that will support them.

Opportunities for Small Businesses include:

Product Sales: If your small business produces a food or beverage item, Loudoun Flavor can help you sell it to targeted customers each week. Our communication with our customer base will include active promotion of your product.

Best of all, you don’t have to pay a huge salary or sales commission or give us the usual 40-70% wholesale profit share. Just register to be a member and pay 15% of your sales as they occur (to cover Loudoun Flavor web and administrative expenses)

Advertise your product or event to a captive audience. Especially if you sell an item that can be used in the kitchen or on the farm or in an artist’s studio. We will provide a targeted audience of customers who will view your ad each week.

Become a Loudoun Flavor Customer Pick Up Location and let us DRIVE TRAFFIC into your retail store, restaurant establishment, hotel, office or greenhouse. Not only will new customers see what you have to offer, they will already have a deep appreciation for your business. Our customers will have a favorable image of you and your business because we instill that in advance by telling them about you! When they come to pick up their Loudoun Flavor purchases, they will likely purchase from you that day as well.

Do nothing and still benefit! Because the Loudoun Flavor website will educate customers about the benefits of fresh food and fun with food. So, if you sell a quality food related item, you will likely benefit from the work we do. In addition, we will be strengthening the community and making Loudoun an even more wonderful place to live.

So if you live and work here, you will benefit.

Let’s join hands and work together for the good of all involved!

Corporate Office - Give your employees a perk at work! Food deliveries right to their desk! Show your community spirit by sponsoring our market. We know how to promote your brand & image.

Loudoun Flavor is about community, safeguarding the environment, preserving farmland, providing truly healthy and tasty food, providing important information and resources along with fun and positive energy.

Joining hands with us ties you to these feel-good goals in the minds of our member customers. If this is the image your company wants to reflect, call us to become a partner!

There are many ways we can partner with your business.

Employee Perks at Work – Show your employees that the company they work for cares about the community, the environment, their health. Join as an office group and Loudoun Flavor can get these healthy grocery and handmade items to your employees each week. This saves your employees time (no standing in line at the grocery store after work). Membership discounts of 10% are available to offices where 10 employees participate or 20% if 50 or more participate.

Advertising Options (in order of effectiveness/cost value):

Advertising Options Cost
Links written into educational articles $75 (1-2 weeks)
Testimonials $150 (subject to our board of advisors feedback)
Banner Ads $200 (run for 1 month)
Sponsorship Promotion $500 (a year of fantastic promotion)
Locavore's Corner

Eleven Reasons to Buy Local
Author, Julie Johnson

Step into any supermarket and scan the perimeters and aisles. The choices are endless and often overwhelming. In many cases, virtually every food imaginable is available at your fingertips.

But look closer. Are those options as fresh and as healthy as they could be? Today’s consumer has been encouraged to read labels to help determine the most nutritious foods. Some health experts warn that if you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients then you should pass on that item. Others insist that the first four ingredients on a package should be natural in order for it to be a good option.

Fresh, natural ingredients in the foods we eat is one good reason to buy local. But there are other reasons as well:

1) Buying local means eating fresh food. You’ve probably heard the phrase “from farm to table”. When you buy local, you are shortening that process. Visit a farmer’s markets and you’ll likely receive produce that has been picked that morning. It doesn’t get any fresher than that!
2) Buying local translates to better nutrition. Since produce is often picked right before sale, it retains its nutritional properties better than food that has been transported great distances over time. Local products are also less likely to contain chemicals and preservatives since they don’t have to be transported long distances or out of season.
3) Buying local supports a more sustainable food system. It stands to reason that locally produced food will involve other local businesses to ensure that it is properly packaged, marketed and delivered from farm to home. So, it’s not just the farmer that benefits from buying local but all of the other businesses that help him or her bring it to the marketplace.
4) Buying local sustains the local economy. Dovetailing on the sustainable food system idea, supporting local growers, and consequently, the businesses that help them, enhances the local economy overall.
5) Buying local saves the customer money. Because you are buying direct from the grower or maker, you save money. There is no middle man to mark up the product, so they can make a profit.
6) Buying local protects the environment. As a more eco-conscious society, increasing numbers of farmers are committed to environmentally-friendly farming. As a result, soil is more greatly enriched, fewer pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used, smarter energy methods are practiced, and water and air quality is more closely monitored. What’s more, since produce and products are grown, created and distributed locally, the fossil fuels and energy used to truck items (and the carbon emissions that follow) is greatly reduced.
7) Buying local enhances the landscape. Loudoun’s beautiful scenery has long been a main attraction for residents and visitors alike. Demand for local products helps to preserve the land that they are grown or made on; thereby preserving the landscape.
8) Buying local doesn’t strain the infrastructure. Unlike residential and commercial development, farming doesn’t strain Loudoun’s infrastructure. It doesn’t contribute to the burdens placed on roads, utilities and schools the way large businesses do. As a result, more farms, and fewer residences and commercial buildings, convey to a lower tax rate.
9) Buying local attracts more tourists. Visit one of the local wineries. Attend a farmer’s market. Peruse one of the annual craft fairs. Undoubtedly, each will have more than a handful of tourists enjoying the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and wares of Loudoun County.
10) Buying local preserves a long-standing tradition. In the mid-19th century, Loudoun County was considered the breadbasket of Virginia. Agriculture has been an important aspect of life in the county and at one time, produced more corn than any other area of Virginia. This tradition is an integral part of Loudoun’s character.
11) Buying local results in more humane treatment of animals. Local growers usually treat their animals more humanely. The majority (if not all) of Loudoun’s livestock is grass-grazed, free range and not subjected to growth hormones or antibiotics.

Aside from being a locavore, Julie Johnson is a business writer and PR consultant in Leesburg, VA. She can be reached at jjohnson@juliewrites.com.