After starting Moncton’s first farmers’ truck to sell local produce last year, Fred Laforge and his co-founder Mathieu Reyjal, are working out of Moncton’s Vennture Garage with the aim of franchising their idea.

The duo set up The Farmers’ Truck to sell a range of produce farmed within 160 kilometres of Moncton after realizing the difficulties farmers face in getting their products to market.

Farmers’ markets often have waiting lists of would-be vendors and big stores and chains require a large quantity of produce. 

A farmers’ truck could address those issues, decided Laforge who grew up on a New Brunswick farm, and Reyial, who turned to farming after becoming an engineer and gaining an MBA.  

“Most consumers choose local when it’s easy to do,” Laforge said. “It needs to be easy for both the consumer and the farmer.”

The Farmers’ Truck stops at seven locations around Moncton between June to October, and the number will soon rise to 13.

The partners have 25 suppliers and the number is growing. They have designed a new truck, to be unveiled in July, which holds more produce and allows clients to browse shelves as in a store. Refrigeration has been installed to hold meat and dairy.

The partners minimize waste by donating unsold good produce to the local food bank. 

“Such trucks are popular in Europe,” Laforge said. “Mathieu saw trucks like this in France, but they’re not as nice. We wanted to stay away from the greasy food truck image and have a higher- end feel so people would buy in confidence.”

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The co-founders met at a startup event. At the time, Laforge owned an advertising agency and Reyial was thinking of opening a farm store in his barn.

“We discussed branding,” Laforge said. “I asked if a store is a good idea. Will people travel 40 minutes to go to a store? He needed to reach urban populations.”

Laforge said mobile food markets like theirs are usually in areas of poor food availability.

“Some non-profit groups bring in fresh vegetables and fruit to improve community health. We’re trying to encourage the local economy,” he said. “We could produce a white-label truck for non-profit use eventually.”

The partners are complementing the truck with an online store which is launching in central Moncton.

“The online store has the same variety as the truck and some more. It will continue throughout winter,” Laforge said.

The partners are currently working out of the Vennture Garage incubator space.

 “The Venn Garage has been critical,” Laforge said. “We’ve been getting advice from peers and mentors.”

 While he develops The Farmers’ Truck, Laforge is also working for a company called Dovico, which makes a time-tracking app. And he visits schools to spread awareness of drug addiction, which caused him to drop out of high school before seeking treatment.

“I was a drug addict, mostly pot, but I did everything I could get my hands on,” he said. “In schools, drugs are an epidemic. Parents need to know it can happen in any setting…Some parents can’t relate, but they need to try to understand.”

When he finished high school Laforge studied graphic design at College Communautaire du Nouveau Brunswick and started his own marketing company called Smithy Creative Group.

“We grew nicely and had big clients like Bell Aliant, Johnson Insurance, Irving Oil…I started working with startups and really fell in love with the community.” 

He ran his company for six years but had trouble scaling (growing) and decided to close.  

“The first thing I thought about with this new business was -- how do we scale?”

So far, the partners have funded The Farmers’ Truck themselves, but they will be looking to fundraise in the fall.

They want the idea to go Canada-wide, and believe franchisees will be tempted by the company’s custom-built trucks, knowledge and support.  

“We want to move fast,” Laforge said. "Being first to market is important."