Boston Area Gleaners, Inc.

What Boston Area Gleaners, Inc. does

Boston Area Gleaners, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004 and headquartered at Stonefield Farm in Acton, Massachusetts. The organization recovers surplus farm produce that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to food access partners, primarily food pantries and meal programs serving food-insecure households across Eastern Massachusetts and MetroWest Boston. Its operational footprint includes refrigerated warehouses, loading docks capable of receiving 18-wheeler wholesale donations, a truck fleet, and a 3.5-acre satellite field at Meadowbrook Farm in Westford, MA, with named produce throughput of 763,000 pounds redistributed in 2024, up from 558,000 pounds in 2023.

The organization's core programs comprise a flagship Gleaning Program (volunteer-driven field harvesting of surplus crops), a Wholesale Donations Program that intercepts rejected produce from distributors, the Boston Food Hub (a wholesale distribution service selling farm produce to institutions, retailers, and restaurants at cost with 100% of product prices returning to farmers), Transportation Services for regional logistics, and an Apprenticeship Program for agricultural training. Educational resources include the 'Meet the Veggies' produce guide series and a Food Resources directory. The business model is donation- and grant-funded, with minor revenue from branded merchandise ($20-$30 per item) and pass-through wholesale activity; Salesforce is used for inventory management.

Boston Area Gleaners serves multiple stakeholders simultaneously: food-insecure families (the ultimate beneficiaries), local farms (as market access via Food Hub and donation recipients), food access partner organizations (pantries and meal programs), wholesale donors (DiSilva Fruit, Farmlink Project, Food Rescue US), and institutional produce buyers. The leadership team is led by Executive Director Usha Thakrar, with Farm Manager Dan Kamen, Operations Director Charlotte, Food Hub Sales Manager Annie, Communications & Outreach Coordinator Jalila Waller, and Food Safety Coordinator Kate Morse.

Name

Boston Area Gleaners, Inc.

Legal name

Boston Area Gleaners, Inc.

Website

https://bostonareagleaners.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Boston Area Gleaners is a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit that recovers surplus farm produce and redistributes it to food pantries and meal programs across Eastern Massachusetts, operating gleaning, wholesale donation, and Boston Food Hub distribution programs from its Stonefield Farm headquarters in Acton.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Rescue and Surplus Produce Distribution

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers (424480), Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon Farming (111219), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD)

Keywords

• Food rescue services
• Surplus produce recovery
• Wholesale produce distribution
• Food waste reduction
• Farm gleaning operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Acton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and organizations to fund operations. Runs campaigns such as the 'Grow the Gleaners' capital campaign for facility improvements.
2. Wholesale Food Hub Sales: Boston Food Hub operates as a wholesale distributor for local produce. The model makes local produce affordable by only charging customers for transportation costs - 100% of the product price a customer pays goes back to the farmer.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sells branded merchandise including t-shirts, hats, and vests with proceeds supporting Gleaners' operations programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Boston Area Gleaners, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that recovers surplus farm produce through volunteer gleaning and operates the Boston Food Hub, a wholesale distribution channel that sells aggregated produce to institutions, retailers, and restaurants. The organization also provides refrigerated transportation services and supports regional farms by purchasing their surplus. Net proceeds and wholesale fees are reinvested into its hunger-relief mission, and harvested produce is distributed to food access partners (food pantries and meal programs) serving food-insecure communities across Eastern Massachusetts.

Product overview

Boston Area Gleaners operates as a regional food systems organization working at the intersection of farming, food waste, and food security. The organization's portfolio centers on its Gleaning Program—the core food rescue operation that harvests surplus produce from farms and distributes it to families facing food insecurity. Supporting this is the Boston Food Hub, a wholesale distribution service connecting local farmers with institutional buyers and returning 100% of product prices to farmers. The organization also runs an Apprenticeship Program for agricultural training, Transportation Services for logistics, and manages farming operations at Stonefield Farm (headquarters in Acton, MA) and Meadowbrook Farm (satellite field in Westford, MA). Additional offerings include educational resources like the Meet the Veggies guide series, merchandise to support operations, and a Food Resources directory for community assistance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Boston Food Hub: A wholesale distributor for local produce, allowing local institutions, retailers, restaurants, nonprofits and other wholesalers to buy high-quality fruits and vegetables from the organization's network of farm partners. The Food Hub charges only for transportation costs with 100% of product price going back to farmers.

Products and services

• Gleaning Program
• Boston Food Hub
• Transportation Services
• Apprenticeship Program
• Gleaners Merchandise

Quantifiable outcome

• 763,000 pounds of produce rescued and distributed via wholesale donations in 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Meadowbrook Farm (Bob Waskiewicz)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership to grow produce on 3.5 acre field at Meadowbrook Farm in Westford, MA for donation to food access organizations. Waskiewicz secured funding from Community Preservation Committee for irrigation well, deer fence, and access road. First season (2024) yielded 95,000 pounds of butternut squash. Plans to grow sweet potatoes in subsequent seasons.
• DiSilva FruitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization that helps keep Boston Area Gleaners updated on different truckloads of produce coming to the area for potential wholesale donation acceptance.
• Farmlink ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization that notifies Gleaners about available truckloads of produce for potential wholesale donation acceptance.
• Food Rescue UScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization that notifies Gleaners about available truckloads of produce for potential wholesale donation acceptance.
• Good Pickin' FarmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocated at Meadowbrook Farm, provides agricultural education programs for children and wellness classes for adults, working collaboratively to support food access mission.
• Mill City GrowsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity-based food justice program in Lowell, MA. Gleaners' apprentice team visits to collaborate on farm projects and learn about urban farming practices. MCG manages three urban farm spaces, eight community gardens, and school garden networks reaching over 8,000 students and families.
• Gaining GroundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner3-acre no-till farm in Concord, MA. All food grown is donated to local hunger relief agencies with 18 hunger relief partners. Gleaners' apprentice crew volunteers and learns from their farming practices. Over 1800 volunteers participated in 2021.
• Siena FarmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner farm in Sudbury that donates produce for Gleaners to redistribute to food access partners.
• Winter Moon RootsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarm partner in Hadley, MA visited during Food Hub operations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Greater Boston Food Bank: The largest hunger-relief organization in New England, distributing food through a regional network of pantries and meal programs — overlapping with Boston Area Gleaners on the food-access mission in the same geography but operating at much larger scale.
• Society of St. Andrew: Long-established national gleaning network that mobilizes volunteers to harvest and distribute surplus produce — the closest national-scale gleaning incumbent to Boston Area Gleaners' core field-gleaning program.
• FoodForward: Large Southern California food rescue and gleaning organization that recovers surplus produce and distributes it to hunger-relief agencies — comparable mission and gleaning/wholesale-recovery model at materially larger scale.

Regional players

• Rescuing Leftover Cuisine: National nonprofit that rescues surplus food from restaurants and foodservice operators for redistribution to communities in need — comparable volunteer-driven food-rescue model with a different upstream source (prepared foods rather than farms).
• Hidden Harvest: Volunteer-driven gleaning and food-rescue organization based in a different US region; comparable operating model (gleaning surplus produce for redistribution) and similar nonprofit structure, but does not compete directly in Eastern Massachusetts.

Direct peers

• Gaining Ground: Three-acre no-till farm in Concord, MA that donates 100% of its produce to local hunger-relief agencies — a direct peer operating the same grow-and-donate model and a current Boston Area Gleaners partner.
• Lovin' Spoonfuls: Boston-area food rescue nonprofit that collects surplus food from businesses and redistributes it to hunger-relief organizations — a direct regional peer to Boston Area Gleaners with a similar volunteer-and-logistics-driven model in the same Eastern Massachusetts market.
• Food Rescue US: National volunteer-driven food rescue platform connecting surplus food donors with nonprofits serving food-insecure communities. Listed as a Boston Area Gleaners partner, it operates the same direct-transfer food-rescue model on a wider geographic footprint.
• Intervale Center: Vermont-based nonprofit running farm-based gleaning, food rescue, and food-access programs in partnership with regional farms and pantries — comparable mission across farming, food waste, and food security, with overlapping gleaning and donor-funded operating model.
• Farmlink Project: Nonprofit that links surplus farm produce to food-insecure communities by identifying available truckloads and matching them to distributors. Directly comparable as a Boston Area Gleaners supply-side informant and peer organization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boston-area-gleaners-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boston Area Gleaners, Inc.