'There's too much at stake to let this die': Real Food Connections locations taken over

Two Fredericton entrepreneurs are hoping to prove a local food business can be successful after stepping in to take over Real Food Connections, which unexpectedly closed its Fredericton and Saint John stores Nov. 30.

Sean Dunbar of Picaroons Traditional Ales and Jason Lejeune, co-owner of Isaac's Way restaurant and the Abbey Caf are calling their new business Locavore Foods.

There's too much at stake to let this die.- Jason Lejeune, Locavore Foods

It will take over the Real Food kitchen in Fredericton, and has also hired Real Food founders Levi and Bev Lawrence.

Lejeune says both he and Dunbar were shareholders and customers of Real Food Connections and when the closure was announced they stepped forward.

"We met and sat down and had some coffee and lunch and said, 'There's too much at stake to let this die,'" Lejeune said.

Dunbar said neither wanted to see the business model and the work accomplished by Real Food Connections providing locally grown food to consumers lost.

"We see a lot of great ideas in New Brunswick that just don't make it to fruition and those ideas tend to get dropped and all of that knowledge and learning and effort and everything is just dropped and discarded... and I don't like that," Dunbar said.

"Sometimes it takes more than one push to get the idea to where it needs to be and I thought this was one of those ideas."

Locavore won't take on debt

Many farmers and other suppliers of Real Food Connections were not paid when the company closed.

• 'It's quite a hit': Fallout felt from Real Food Connections closure

Dunbar said he and Lejeunewon't take on the debts of Real Food Connections, but are working as quickly as they can to get Locavore Foods up and running so the relationships established can continue.

"Our debt that we're picking up is more of a moral andemotionaldebt to not let those investments go to waste and to continue on with things," he said.

"We want to continue the big part of the mission which is more New Brunswick grown food for New Brunswick consumers."

Lejeune said moving forward, they hope to also help suppliers by continuing to provide a market for their produce.

"There's a lot of growers out there right now that had grown food for Real Food Connections and we want to pick that up for them so they're not sitting on food in their storage this winter."

Lejeune said LocavoreFoods has secured the leases at the former Real Food Connections location on Hanwell Roadin Fredericton and in Saint John.

The partners say the new company will look different and much of itsfocus will be on the processing kitchen.

"It's an ever-evolving process but like Shawn said, the mission is we're going to buy New Brunswick food and make it accessible to consumers," Lejeune said.

That will mean more business-to-business sales and perhaps less retail.

"You know the retail grocery store, storefront business is very, very tough and honestly we'd encourage people to use existing channels to get that food. Go to your farmers market, go to your local grocery store, even if they're big stores, and ask specifically for more local food," Dunbar said.

The new partners hope to have some retail food available by mid-January and to be making business-to-business sales even earlier.

"Even though we don't have all the details figured out we really want to offer the New Brunswick farm community and New Brunswickconsumers and the whole real foodfamily and the staff members that 2017 is going to be a great year," Dunbar said.