Full Yield Kitchen — Surplus to Shelf
A nonprofit farm-surplus food hub — kitchen, bakery, café, farm stand, and workforce program — that buys what farms can't sell and turns it into something people line up for.
A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Feasibility Study
Drew Keske · Founding Executive Director · May 2026
30–40% of American farm production never reaches a consumer.
Cosmetically imperfect, overproduced, mispriced, unsold. For a small farm, surplus is money already spent on seed, water, labor, and land that returns zero revenue.
Most is composted at best, landfilled at worst. (Source: USDA, ReFED.)
The waste is not a quality problem. It is a market failure.
Full Yield Kitchen creates the missing market.
"We buy what farms can't sell and turn it into something people line up for."
Buy
Surplus, cosmetically imperfect, unsold produce at fair below-market rates.
Transform
Jams, sauces, pickles, ferments, herb blends, artisan baked goods in a licensed commercial kitchen.
Sell & train
On-site farm stand and café, with a paid workforce program embedded in production.
"Full Yield Kitchen buys what farms can't sell and turns it into something people line up for —
building a kitchen, a café, a community, and a workforce along the way."
Five integrated functions under one roof.
A single 2,000–3,500 SF leased space — kitchen in back; café and farm stand in front.
01
Commercial Kitchen & Bakery
The transformation engine.
02
Café Counter
A tasting engine for the product line.
03
Farm Stand & Retail
Direct-to-community sales.
04
Workforce Program
Cohort-based, paid training.
05
Farm Purchasing
A reliable secondary market for surplus.
Buy low, transform high, sell at market.
Every dollar of surplus that enters the kitchen exits as a product worth 3–8× the input cost.
Step 1 — Buy low
Surplus at 30–60% of market from 5–12 farm partners. Farmers as suppliers, not donors.
Step 2 — Transform high
Shelf-stable preserves, sauces, herb blends, plus a weekly bread & pastry program.
Step 3 — Sell & train
Farm stand, café, farmers markets, wholesale. Every shift is a training shift.
Surplus peaches Monday → $10 jars of jam Saturday.
A 10× multiplier, repeated across thousands of pounds annually.
Pickup
Mon/Thu route, 3–5 farms, weighed/inspected/receipted on-site.
Sort
Ready / trim / compost. Trainees run this station.
Produce
50+ recipe library; inputs drive the batch plan.
Shelve
Labeled, batch-coded, story signage.
Baking is the integration layer.
Absorbs the widest variety of surplus, produces the highest-frequency repeat purchase. People buy bread weekly — that drives foot traffic to everything else.
Value-add
Jams/preserves, fruit butters, pickles, ferments, hot sauces, salsas, chutneys, tomato sauce, herb salt, dried fruit & tea.
Bakery
Sourdough, herb focaccia, vegetable breads, fruit tarts, galettes, scones, muffins, savory hand pies.
Rhythm
Bread fresh Tue/Thu/Sat. Year 1 SKUs 8–12. Recipes tested 50+. Bake days/week 3–4.
The café is the farm stand's sales engine.
A customer walks in for coffee and toast (house sourdough topped with peach jam from the product line), tastes it, buys a jar on the way out.
Café counter
Coffee, daily toast bar, one daily soup, one daily sandwich, seasonal drinks. Avg ticket $6–10.
Farm stand
Open sightline to kitchen; all value-add + baked goods + select fresh surplus + curated partner products; impact wall; story signage. Avg ticket $12–20.
Food access
SNAP / EBT acceptance is proposed for opening, pending retailer authorization and confirmation of any Oregon incentive program.
The kitchen trains people.
Not a class — a paid job-training program. Trainees produce the products that generate the revenue that sustains the program.
4–6
Cohort size
12–16
Weeks per cohort
70%+
Year 1 placement target
Phase 1 (wks 1–4) Foundation
ServSafe, sanitation, knife skills, receiving/sorting, intro value-add.
Phase 2 (wks 5–10) Production
Canning, pH testing, baking fundamentals, batch planning, labeling, food-cost tracking.
Phase 3 (wks 11–16) Operations
Café service, retail, shift leadership, job-placement support, alumni tracking.
Buy, don't beg.
Purchasing makes this a business relationship, not charity. Farmers as suppliers, not donors — they take you seriously, prioritize you, deliver consistently.
| Crop | Retail | Surplus rate | % of retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone fruit | $2.50–4.00 | $0.75–1.50 | 30–40% |
| Berries | $3.00–6.00 | $1.00–2.00 | 25–40% |
| Tomatoes | $2.00–3.50 | $0.60–1.00 | 25–35% |
| Peppers | $2.00–4.00 | $0.75–1.25 | 30–40% |
| Herbs (bunch) | $1.00–3.00 | $0.30–0.75 | 25–35% |
| Citrus | $1.50–3.00 | $0.50–1.00 | 30–40% |
The menu follows the harvest.
Recipes designed for variable inputs (a "stone fruit jam" recipe works with peaches, plums, or nectarines).
Preserved & jarred
Jams, fruit butters, pickles, fermented hot sauces, salsas, chutneys, tomato sauce.
Sauces & spreads
Pesto, chimichurri, infused honeys, compound butters, vinaigrettes, pepper jelly.
Dried & shelf-stable
Herb salt blends, dried herb/tea blends, fruit/veg chips, granola, soup mixes.
Baked goods
Sourdough, herb/vegetable breads, fruit tarts, galettes, scones, savory hand pies.
The transformation multiplier.
Surplus inputs at 30–60% of market yield products at full artisan pricing. Gross margins consistently exceed 70%. Blended Year 1 break-even: $240–325K.
Peaches
10 lbs @ $1.00 → 12 jars jam @ $10
12×
Tomatoes
15 lbs @ $0.75 → 8 jars sauce @ $10
7×
Peppers
5 lbs @ $1.00 → 10 bottles hot sauce @ $9
18×
Herbs
20 bunches @ $0.50 → 15 jars herb salt @ $10
15×
A large, consistent, renewable supply — and rising mainstream demand for "rescued food."
To measure
Usable corridor crops that currently lack a reliable buyer
Local baseline
Corridor surplus volume and participating farms still need to be measured
3–8×
Retail-to-input multiplier on value-add from surplus
Validate in the corridor, build in McMinnville.
Phase A · Validation
Banks–McMinnville corridor
Validate crop surplus, grower interest, seasonal supply, transport distances, and demand through direct corridor interviews.
Phase B/C · Primary launch
McMinnville
Evaluate a production kitchen near Groundworks only after demand, zoning, rent, utilities, and food-safety requirements are confirmed.
Future · Corridor network
Additional stewarded sites
Use a second site only when Three Field Commons, Foothold, and producer demand show a clear operating need.
~60–70% earned. ~30–40% grants.
Earned revenue covers core food-production costs; grants fund the workforce program — the part a for-profit couldn't sustain. Year 1 total est. $220–445K.
Farm stand retail
$80–140K
Café counter
$40–75K
Farmers markets
$25–50K
Grants
$30–75K
Wholesale
$15–35K
Workshops & events
$10–25K
Donations
$10–25K
Fresh surplus produce
$10–20K
Realistic midpoint $250–300K.
A space with existing commercial-kitchen infrastructure can reduce build-out 40–60%.
Eligible public grants
$75–100K planning range
Foundation grants (workforce + access)
$50–75K
Community + individual giving
$25–50K
Founder contribution / CDFI loan
$25–50K
A 501(c)(3) is the right vehicle because the mission is the model.
Workforce
Training is central — and requires grant funding to operate.
Farms first
Designed to benefit farms and community, not maximize founder equity.
Funding fit
Public and private funding fit must be researched; no program or award is assumed.
Earned floor
Product sales cover core costs; grants fund what a for-profit couldn't sustain.
Founding Executive Director, Drew Keske.
Foodshed Cooperative apprenticeship (2025–26)
Prior experience in farm-to-consumer hub logistics provides a reference point; the corridor surplus-supply network must be built locally.
Community education experience
Curriculum design and community-education delivery, directly relevant to the workforce program.
Impact operator
A through-line connecting teaching, land stewardship, and social-venture operation.
From validation to open doors.
Fall 2026
Phase A · Validation
8–12 farm conversations, pilot products at markets, comparable visits, financial-model stress test. Gate Dec 2026.
2027
Phase B · Launch Readiness
501(c)(3) filing, board recruitment, grant applications, facility scouting, purchasing agreements. Gate 2028.
Late 2028 / 2029
Phase C · Open Doors
Farm stand opens, kitchen production begins, 1–2 farmers markets, first workforce cohort.
2030+
Phase D · Stabilize
Wholesale & online, 2–3 cohorts/year, farmer revenue-sharing pilot, first annual impact report.
Full Yield Kitchen is at concept validation.
Farmers
A conversation about your surplus patterns — how much, what crops, what seasons. Would 30–60% of market on a recurring basis work?
Funders & foundations
Whether this fits your priorities; feedback on the case for support; introductions.
Mentors & advisors
Honest assessment — where are the blind spots; if this won't work, say so.
"Surplus to Shelf."
Drew Keske · hello@rootstockcorridor.com