Sweet Grown Alabama, the state’s nonprofit agricultural branding program, has updated its membership dues to a flat fee of $100 annually for all farms, restaurants, grocery stores, markets and others. Dues were previously determined on a sliding scale based on farm or company annual income and ranged from $100 to $4,800.

The change was made in response to financial support from the state Legislature and corporate sponsors, said Sweet Grown Alabama Director Ellie Watson.

Sweet Grown Alabama farms offer the freshest produce and meats. (Ellie Watson / Sweet Grown Alabama)

“When Sweet Grown Alabama was founded in 2019, we were unsure how the program would ultimately be funded,” Watson said. “Thanks to incredible support from the state Legislature and a great slate of sponsors, we are able to reduce the fee burden for members so more Alabama farmers and businesses can take advantage of our program. With rising input costs and most everything else increasing in price, I’m thrilled we can make this flat-rate membership change to better serve Alabama agriculture. That wouldn’t be possible without our legislators and our sponsors.”

Watson also spoke on the importance of Alabama farms and businesses taking advantage of this annual fee change and what the online database can do for them.

“In addition to branding their products with the logo, members will be included in our online searchable database,” Watson said. “This is a tool for consumers to locate high-quality Sweet Grown Alabama products near them and drives traffic to farms, markets, stores and restaurants sourcing local products.”

Membership is not exclusive to Alabama farmers and is open to value-added product makers who use at least 50% Alabama-grown ingredients. Sweet Grown Alabama promotions also include restaurants, retailers, farmers markets, agritourism operations and businesses with a commitment to purchase products grown in Alabama.

Sweet Grown Alabama’s mission is to enhance marketing opportunities for Alabama farmers by connecting retailers and consumers to Alabama-grown foods and other agricultural products. Farmers and value-added product makers have a new opportunity to join the program and brand their Alabama-grown products with the logo.

“We are proud to launch this new effort to hopefully provide additional marketing opportunities for farmers,” said Aisling Walding, Sweet Grown Alabama assistant director. “Our goal with this fee change is to increase demand for Alabama-grown products and, ultimately, allow more farms and businesses to become members of the program.”

Membership benefits include:

• Licensing rights to use the Sweet Grown Alabama logo. (A recent Auburn University study concluded consumers were willing to pay up to $1 more at the farmers market for certain items branded “Sweet Grown Alabama” vs. nonbranded items from Alabama).
• Your business and products listed in Sweet Grown Alabama’s searchable online consumer database.
• Statewide branding through traditional and social media advertising campaigns.
• Consumer advocacy on your behalf encouraging local eating and purchasing.
• Marketing and supply chain support.
• Opportunities to submit your products for purchase in Sweet Grown Alabama’s annual Christmas box sale or Farm to Table Dinner event.
• Networking, online educational materials and exclusive event invitations (including deeply discounted tickets to the annual Farm to Table Dinner).
• Access to the Sweet Grown Alabama Members-Only Facebook group of farmers and local business owners.
• Opportunities to share your story through the monthly e-newsletter and online blog page.
• Use of the Sweet Grown Alabama logo as USDA-approved country-of-origin identification for international trade.

Membership applications are available online at www.sweetgrownalabama.org.