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A sign outside the SWFL Produce Farm Store announces the store\u2019s opening at Coconut Point. -BLANCA SANTIAGO \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Walk into SWFL Produce Farm Store at Coconut Point and you might leave with more than you expected.\n<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s a basket of blueberries picked fresh that morning. Maybe it\u2019s a Jersey tomato that reminds a shopper of home. Maybe it\u2019s a pink pineapple or a loaf of locally made blueberry banana bread.\n<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s kind of the point.\n<\/p>\n
The store, which opened at Coconut Point on July 1, is trying to make buying local food less of a weekend activity and more of an everyday option for Southwest Florida residents.\n<\/p>\n
Owner Elizabeth Etnoyer has spent over a decade connecting local farms with Southwest Florida consumers. SWFL Produce started as a small co-op run out of her garage, eventually growing into the storefront at Coconut Point.\n<\/p>\n
But the reason she started it came down to a problem she saw among local farmers: They were growing the food, but getting it into consumers\u2019 hands was another story.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cFarms, they grow the stuff, but then the farms can\u2019t really take it to the farmers market because you have to pay insurance. You also have to pay rent, vehicles, and staff, and all that,\u201d Etnoyer said.\n<\/p>\n
At the same time, many small farms aren\u2019t large enough to supply a grocery chain like Publix, while expecting individual customers to drive out to farms scattered throughout Southwest Florida isn\u2019t exactly convenient.\n<\/p>\n
A middle ground for farmers
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Amish-made jellies are one of the unexpected finds shoppers can take home. -BLANCA SANTIAGO \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
So Etnoyer created a middle ground.\n<\/p>\n
The company works as a co-op, buying products from local farms and bringing them together in one place. The result is a farm store where shoppers can find produce from multiple growers without having to spend their day driving from farm to farm.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re like, all right, we\u2019re a co-op. We\u2019ll buy this in bulk,\u201d Etnoyer said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get all your lettuce from this farm, we\u2019ll bring it back to our store, and sell it for you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Today, SWFL Produce works with about eight local farms, depending on the season, along with its own farm in Punta Gorda.\n<\/p>\n
One of those farms is Blueberry Bunch, a commercial blueberry farm that has been operating for about 20 years. The farm added a U-pick operation in 2020, and its relationship with SWFL Produce goes back about seven years.\n<\/p>\n
Kristian Velasco, the farm\u2019s U-pick manager, said SWFL Produce is often one of the first customers to receive its blueberries when they become available.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey pick up the same day as fast as possible,\u201d Velasco said. \u201cSometimes they come an hour or two later, the same day.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
That means a customer shopping at the Coconut Point store could be buying blueberries that were still on the farm earlier that day.\n<\/p>\n
For Velasco, that connection matters more than just selling the crop.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important to get fresh from Florida produce, and also just to work with local private companies,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Farming under pressure<\/p>\n
That local connection is becoming more important as the area\u2019s agricultural industry faces a long list of challenges.\n<\/p>\n
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Blueberry Bunch supplies SWFL Produce with fresh blueberries, which can reach the Coconut Point store just hours after being picked. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
Blueberry Bunch, for example, is still recovering from hurricanes that damaged the farm\u2019s plants. Velasco said the farm has spent the last several years replanting, with about 30,000 to 35,000 blueberry plants being replanted this season.\n<\/p>\n
Weather has brought another layer of difficulty.\n<\/p>\n
Velasco said the farm has experienced increasingly warm conditions, followed by an unusually difficult freeze last year. Instead of the typical one or two freezing nights, he said the farm experienced seven or eight instances of extreme freezing.\n<\/p>\n
Other crops have faced their own struggles.\n<\/p>\n
Velasco pointed to Florida\u2019s orange industry, where many groves have been lost in recent years. He said farmers are looking at what else they can grow, including watermelon and even crops like macadamias.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can, it\u2019s always best to go local and support local farmers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to compete with South America.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Making local food convenient<\/p>\n
But for many Southwest Florida residents, buying local has traditionally come with a catch: convenience.\n<\/p>\n
Farmers markets are typically held once a week, often during limited morning hours. That\u2019s not always compatible with work schedules, family activities, or running out of fresh groceries in the middle of the week.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSome days it\u2019s raining, some days it\u2019s really, really hot, so it\u2019s kind of hard to get out to a market,\u201d Etnoyer said. \u201cPeople run out of food like midweek, and then what are you supposed to do when the markets only open once a week?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The Coconut Point store is open seven days a week.\n<\/p>\n
For Celine Price, that was part of the appeal.\n<\/p>\n
Price, who has lived in Southwest Florida for 10 years, was having breakfast next door when she noticed the store and decided to walk in.\n<\/p>\n
Price doesn\u2019t normally shop at farmers markets because the hours often conflict with work.\n<\/p>\n
It was her first visit, and she\u2019s already excited to return.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019ll be coming often. It\u2019s an actual store that I can come to on my off hours from work,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
She picked up locally made blueberry banana bread and found a variety of produce, Amish jellies, and other products she doesn\u2019t typically see at a conventional grocery store.\n<\/p>\n
For her, buying local is also about knowing where her food comes from.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been caring about where my food comes from for a long time,\u201d Price said. \u201cI eat mostly organic, and I put a lot of thought into what goes into my body. With everything that\u2019s going on with the viruses and bacteria in produce grown in places where you\u2019re not sure of their regulations, it\u2019s good to know that you have something locally grown.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Etnoyer seconds that.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just too much risk of contamination from being in the fields in Mexico, to bringing it to a packing house, to them cutting it, bagging it, and then shipping it over and distributing it from store to store,\u201d Etnoyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s going through too many hands. Too many people are dealing with and touching our food.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tPink pineapples have quickly become a favorite among shoppers at the new store. -BLANCA SANTIAGO \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788488293_291_Pink-pineapples-have-quickly-become-a-favorite-among-shoppers-at-the-new-store-768x1024.jpeg\")
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