08/14/2017, WASHINGTON. The Founding Farmer Restaurant is one of Washington DC’s most popular establishments. But this capital city staple is owned, not by a coastal conglomerate, but by the North Dakota Farmers Union. Sarah Mock has more.
When the farm economy squeeze North Dakota farmers- they started thinking about solutions.
“Maybe we need to own the whole system. you know, we see companies integrating themselves down to the farm gate, maybe we need to integrate up to the consumer. […] we could, in essence, own the whole system, and the determination was that the fastest way to get into the consumer was through a restaurant.”
So founding farmer, the first of the groups hugely successful establishments, became a business owned by more than 45,000 Dakota farmers.
“We’re 100% farmer owned and operated and managed. It’s also sourcing food from us family farms. So we have a little bit of a larger story than farm to table, we literally have ownership and input on how the operations are run.”
Starting the restaurant required some outside help, and in working with their partners, the NDFU became ambassadors for rural life.
“Doing business with these guys from North Dakota has been so reaffirming to me about the goodness of people and integrity in business and thinking long term. Yes, it’s a very professionally run business, but there’s just no short-term thinking, there’s no politics. When people ask me how the company is so successful, I say it’s in the DNA, it’s the seed that it grew from.”
The group’s more than 1,000 employees also learn about farm life as it drives how the restaurants operate at every level.
“It’s wonderful when the farmers come into town and they can really see what they’re part of, and it’s such an interesting different approach, and I think internally, we’ve really gained a perspective into their world, into what they do day to day and how they think and how they want to grow their business. So we try and see things through their eyes.”
Not just the workers are getting the message, customers hear it too.
“Everyday, we’re probably having in the neighborhood of 6000 people in 5 restaurants, and if each one of them gets the message that you should look for us family farm food, and their shopping that when they’re going out […] we’re gaining there too.”
While our country struggles with a disconnect between urban and rural, The Farmers Restaurant Group is busy serving more than 40,000 patrons a week, doing their part to bridge the divide with good food from american family farms. for RFDTV, Sarah Mock, Washington.
Not only is The Farmers Restaurant Group feeding thousands of people every day, their flagship restaurant, founding farmer, was recently cited as the most requested restaurant in the nation on open table.
With
-MARK WATNE, NORTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION PRESIDENT
-DAN SIMONS, FOUNDING FARMERS OWNER
-MEAGHAN O’SHEA, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Sarah Mock
Washington Bureau Chief, RFD-TV
@Sarah_K_Mock
