Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) is a marketing and distribution service for locally-grown organic fruits and vegetables. We are a quality-focused company bridging the needs of farmers and buyers to supply consumers with year-round supplies of fresh, organic produce. ECO was created to help customers meet their goals of sourcing fresh, local organic produce from neighboring farms while enabling NC farmers to preserve their family land through environmentally-friendly agriculture. A grower-owned company, ECO works closely with customers and farmers to ensure that production is tailored to local market demand. With 80 percent of the sales price going directly to the farmer, ECO’s customers know exactly how much they are contributing to our growing sustainable agriculture community. Together in partnership with growers and customers, ECO is improving consumer access to fresh, delicious organic produce and supporting the family farms that maintain the beauty and permanence of the Carolinas .

ECO began through a project of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA), with support from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission (TTFC). CFSA developed the program to help emerging organic farmers and organic tobacco farmers improve the supply of local organic vegetables and fruits to regional consumers through the development of a long-term marketing and distribution service. This relates to CFSA’s mission in that a viable marketing and distribution entity is essential to a local organic food system. To learn more about CFSA, click here.

ECO offers customers an innovative educational and promotional presence by performing a “farm-to-table” customer service, cooperating with chefs, marketing and produce departments to educate consumers about their relationships with local organic family farms and the benefits these relationships provide to their customers and communities. ECO’s promotional materials are designed to increase customer demand for local organic products, reward businesses for supporting local organic farms and increase consumer awareness regarding the benefits of supporting sustainable agriculture. With culinary and marketing professionals on staff, ECO can help your business with innovative strategies to expand your availability and quality of seasonal organic produce.

For the buyer and the public sector, ECO is known for its high-quality products, reliability, and exceptional customer service. For participating organic producers, ECO serves as a simple mechanism that enables them to profitably sell their products and supports them in improving their production and packaging techniques. For the conventional grower, ECO offers a viable entry point into the expanding organic market and assistance in transitioning to organic farming.

Yes, we do have a commercial, refrigerated truck! Although we look like a traditional produce company, all ECO produce is truly “farm-fresh,” arriving from a local farm usually on the morning of delivery to customers. In fact, ECO farms don’t know what to harvest until all the orders are collected from customers… ECO farmers are truly harvesting their produce with customers’ needs and preferences in mind.

After starting with a few strawberries in April 2004, ECO now provides year-round supplies of fresh produce by working with farms extending from the Carolina Mountains to the coast. ECO is fortunate to have a healthy balance of grower-owners representing small and large farms. By pooling their diverse harvests, ECO is meeting our communities’ needs for a steady stream of high-quality local food choices for grocery stores as well as artisanal items chefs enjoy offering on their seasonal menus. ECO is proud to be serving consumers and farmers with the logistical coordination and support needed to make the vision of a local organic food system a sustainable reality.

Todd Dumke and Sandi Kronick partnered with 13 organic farmers to form ECO in 2004.

Todd Dumke has been a Chef for over 15 years, most recently serving as Chef de Cuisine at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill . An avid gardener, Todd was a loyal local food buyer and wanted to get out of the kitchen to help develop a local food system that could reliably serve growers and chefs. Todd oversees Operations and Quality Control for ECO, making sure that everything that is delivered to customers is what they want.

Sandi Kronick got her start in the local food scene working as the Local Food Coordinator for a 700-member dining co-op in Ohio , working mostly with Amish farmers. After consulting with Cleveland restaurants to help them set up local food buying programs, Sandi moved to NC where she worked for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association since 2001, and helped launch ECO in 2004. Sandi oversees Sales and Marketing for ECO, making sure that production is tailored to customer needs.