Nashville Grown
Nashville Grown is a nonprofit local food hub founded in 2012 that aggregates produce from approximately 65 farms within 100 miles of Nashville and delivers it to restaurants, chefs, and caterers through a single online ordering platform and consolidated delivery.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersNashville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Nashville Grown does
Nashville Grown is a nonprofit social enterprise founded in 2012 that operates a local food hub connecting approximately 65 farms within a 100-mile radius of Davidson County, Tennessee to restaurants, chefs, and caterers in Nashville. The organization addresses a structural gap in the regional food supply chain: small specialty farms lack the refrigerated trucks, cold storage, washing and packaging facilities, and delivery logistics required to serve wholesale buyers, while large national distributors such as Sysco dominate institutional procurement through single-click ordering. Nashville Grown solves this by aggregating farm product, providing marketing support, and consolidating ordering and delivery for restaurant buyers.
The core technical product is an online ordering platform, hosted on the third-party Local Food Marketplace infrastructure, that lets chefs place a single order against multiple farms and receive one consolidated invoice and delivery. Supporting services include production coordination (channeling buyer demand signals back to farmers to inform planting decisions), branding and marketing support for restaurants that authentically source locally (including an "Eat Local" directory on the Nashville Grown website), and physical distribution handling pick-up, washing, packaging, and transport. The organization also runs bi-weekly produce emails to buyer prospects and maintains an Instagram presence (@realnashvillegrown). There is no public-facing API, mobile application, or proprietary technology stack; the platform is a standard SaaS marketplace storefront.
The business model combines a marketplace commission on produce transacted through the hub with philanthropic donations collected via a Donorbox integration. The buyer base consists of independent mid-market restaurants in Nashville such as Husk, Henrietta Red, The Catbird Seat, Bastion, Butcher & Bee, 360 Bistro, Dozen Bakery, Stay Golden, Miel Restaurant, and Earnest Bar and Hideaway. Operations are run by a lean team (1-10 employees) led by Operations Director and founder Alan Powell and Executive Director Elizabeth Murphy. Nashville Grown claims to have driven over $4 million in cumulative revenue for local farmers over five years and $850,000 in more recent incremental farm revenue, although the company's own top-line is not publicly disclosed.
Nashville Grown firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nashville Grown
- Legal name
- Nashville Grown
- Website
- https://nashvillegrown.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Nashville Grown is a nonprofit local food hub founded in 2012 that aggregates produce from approximately 65 farms within 100 miles of Nashville and delivers it to restaurants, chefs, and caterers through a single online ordering platform and consolidated delivery.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nashville Grown industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Local Food Distribution
- SIC
- Agricultural Services (700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Produce Markets & Greengrocers (CRAHAHAA)
Keywords
Where Nashville Grown is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nashville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Nashville Grown business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Platform/Transaction Fees: As a nonprofit food hub, Nashville Grown takes a commission or fee on produce sold through their platform. They provide marketing, online ordering, aggregation, washing, packaging, and delivery services for local farms, generating revenue to sustain operations while keeping money in the local farming community.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Nashville Grown product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nashville Grown is a nonprofit local food hub that aggregates farm products from approximately 65 farms located within 100 miles of Nashville/Davidson County and distributes them to restaurants, chefs, and caterers. The organization provides marketing, online ordering, washing, packaging, and consolidated delivery services so buyers can source produce from multiple local farms with a single invoice and a single delivery.
Product overview
Nashville Grown operates as a nonprofit local food hub that aggregates and distributes farm products from approximately 65 farms within 100 miles of Davidson County, Tennessee to restaurants, chefs, and caterers in Nashville. The core offering consists of the Nashville Grown Food Hub combined with an Online Ordering Platform that allows buyers to source from multiple local farms with a single invoice and delivery. Supporting services include Production Coordination (channeling buyer demand information to farmers), Branding and Marketing Support (highlighting restaurants that source locally), and Delivery Services (handling logistics including washing, packaging, and transport from farm to buyer).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Nashville Grown Food Hub
Quantifiable outcome
- $4 million+ in new revenue for local farms in 5 years
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Nashville Grown
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Nashville Grown technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Nashville Grown partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Nashville Grown competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative: Cooperative of organic farms in Pennsylvania that aggregates and distributes produce to restaurants, retailers, and institutions across the Mid-Atlantic. Direct comparable in multi-farm aggregation and B2B wholesale food distribution, with an analogous role as intermediary between small farms and wholesale buyers.
- Farm Fresh Rhode Island: Nonprofit food hub and farmers' market operator in Rhode Island that aggregates local farm products for wholesale and retail buyers. Highly comparable nonprofit regional food hub model focused on connecting local farms to wholesale demand.
- Local Food Hub: Nonprofit food hub based in Charlottesville, Virginia that aggregates products from regional small farms and distributes them to restaurants, schools, and institutions. Operates a near-identical nonprofit model to Nashville Grown — producer aggregation, washing/packing, and B2B wholesale distribution — making it the closest direct comparable.
- Forager: B2B digital marketplace that connects wholesale buyers (restaurants, schools, hospitals) to local farms and food producers. Directly comparable to Nashville Grown's online Food Hub in solving discovery, ordering, and logistics for local food sourcing.
- Barn2Door: SaaS platform enabling farms to sell direct to consumers and wholesale buyers via online storefronts, with subscription and order management. Adjacent platform play supporting the same farm-to-buyer aggregation and online ordering that Nashville Grown's Food Hub performs.
- Food4All: Online platform that lets farmers and food hubs run e-commerce storefronts for direct and wholesale sales. Comparable tech layer serving small farms and food hubs — directly adjacent to Nashville Grown's online ordering infrastructure.
- GrowNYC / Greenmarket: Nonprofit operating farmers' markets, farm-to-institution programs, and wholesale food distribution across New York City. Comparable as a nonprofit food system organization that connects regional farms to urban wholesale and institutional buyers.
- Appalachian Sustainable Development: Nonprofit operating a food hub and farm-to-institution programs across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. Highly comparable nonprofit model that aggregates regional farms for wholesale buyers, including strong overlap in geography and target customer set.
Broad incumbents
- US Foods: Major US broadline foodservice distributor serving restaurants and institutions with nationwide logistics. Comparable incumbent distributor competing for the same restaurant buyers that Nashville Grown supplies.
- Sysco: Largest US broadline foodservice distributor serving restaurants, hospitals, schools, and hotels nationwide. Nashville Grown explicitly cites Sysco's one-click ordering as the primary competitive benchmark; a broad incumbent competing for the same B2B foodservice buyers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Nashville Grown social profiles
Digital presenceNashville Grown financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nashville Grown leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Nashville Grown funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nashville Grown M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nashville Grown
What does Nashville Grown do?
Nashville Grown is a nonprofit local food hub that aggregates farm products from approximately 65 farms located within 100 miles of Nashville/Davidson County and distributes them to restaurants, chefs, and caterers. The organization provides marketing, online ordering, washing, packaging, and consolidated delivery services so buyers can source produce from multiple local farms with a single invoice and a single delivery.
Is Nashville Grown a public or private company?
Nashville Grown is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Nashville Grown founded?
Nashville Grown was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Nashville Grown based?
Nashville Grown is headquartered in Nashville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Nashville Grown make money?
One revenue line is on record: platform/Transaction Fees.
Who are Nashville Grown's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Local Food Hub, Forager, Barn2Door, Food4All, GrowNYC / Greenmarket and Appalachian Sustainable Development. Broad incumbents are US Foods and Sysco.
Does Nashville Grown have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nashville Grown.
What industry is Nashville Grown in?
Nashville Grown's product category is Local Food Distribution. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGALAD, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative), with a secondary code of CRAHAHAA, Produce Markets & Greengrocers. Its SIC code is 700.