Natural Direct was started in 2005 by Scott and Sarena Dickinson. On a search for some local produce in our hometown of Sandwich a couple years earlier, I found the only thing available was sweet corn. I did some searching and found a farm growing organically about 20 minutes away, and joined their CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture, sort of farm share.) The farmers worked very hard on growing great vegetables and then delivering them a few days a week around Chicago. I found myself driving to other farms for fruit, honey and meats. That is when the lightbulb went off, to use my backround in distribution and transportation to build a distibution network to efficiently get products from the farm to consumers.
So in 2005, we stared with just a truck to deliver from local farms to individual homes. The next year Natural Direct had its first home in a small warehouse in Oswego. In 2008, we partnered with Sidney Siegel, who was running Oakville Organics, a home delivery business in Highland Park. We found the greatest need in bringing local items to the wholesale market, and in 2010 stopped delivering to homes to dedicate our resources to restaurants and stores. Although sad to leave our home delivery families, we are able to distribute much more local food now.
