2017 Economic Impact Awards Entrepreneur of the Year: Paul Allen

Former yacht chef Paul Allen is taking on the meal kit service industry’s dominant players by shipping locally sourced products to hungry consumers.

Allen discovered how time-consuming it can be to shop locally, leading to the creation of Farm 2 Counter Inc. Think of a farmer’s market in your own home. By contrast, competitors like Blue Apron and HelloFresh may deliver products from thousands of miles away.

“As a professional chef, I found out that it’s not how much money you spend on an ingredient, it’s how close it is to you to get the best ingredients,” he says. “We feel we got into this business before this type of delivery service was trending and have planted our roots firmly into the local area.

“We haven’t found another company doing what we are doing on our level.”

As a traveling chef, Allen often purchased food at stops along the way, cementing his passion for local flare.

“That to me was always the very best food I could achieve,” he says.

Allen buys products from the likes of Fassnight Creek Farms and Millsap Farms in Springfield, Edgewood Creamery in Purdy, Circle B Ranch in Seymour and Peace Valley Poultry in West Plains, among others.

His business model keeps consumer cash in the local community, creating an economic impact beyond just Farm 2 Counter.

“Putting it back into the local economy, I feel like the farmers will do better and better. You can’t get that from big suppliers.”

Allen’s efforts have paid off.

Since opening, Farm 2 Counter produced sales of $480,000, bringing the company into the black. Last year, sales were $240,000, and Allen plans to double that figure in 2017.

“We are so ecstatic because we have zero debt to any bank,” he says. “We are 100 percent self-funded so far.”

Next up for Allen and Farm 2 Counter is a new retail store and packaging center.

Allen is investing $60,000 into a 2006 N. Broadway Ave. standalone building that had housed Broadway Corner Store. Currently on a lease, he’s negotiating with owner Marilyn Hansen Meyer Trust to purchase the building. He’s targeting a launch date by the end of August.

“You can come in and shop like a normal store,” he says. “It’s going to be a mini-farmer’s market and general store, or you can get your box like a normal delivery.”

Farm 2 Counter is relocating its operations from Commercial Street, where demand has outgrown the space. The 2,400 square feet leased on Broadway fit the company’s current needs.

Allen attributes the company’s success to its local products, website and personal touch.

At Farm2Counter.com, customers can purchase a variety of options, including a farmer’s market box, meat package, vegetables and low-carb options. On Fridays, customers get a fresh box of goodies at their doorsteps.

“We have a personal service where we deliver the products straight to the person, so we get to interact directly with the people,” Allen says. “We give local products that taste really well.

“We give our customers ingredients that they have never tried and find that families are responding and trying new items.”