photo by: Contributed photos

Employees of Sunflower Provisions prepare boxes of local produce to be delivered to Lawrence-area residents.

As official stay-at-home orders began last month and many organizations closed to the public to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Lawrence farmer Scott Thellman knew he needed to do something fast.

Thellman, who owns and operates Juniper Hill Farms, has relied on the school districts and restaurants as loyal customers of his locally grown produce. But those have mostly closed or pared down their business.

“It’s been hard for us to see all of our regular customers go dark,” he said of the restaurants and school districts. “That’s a big chunk of our business.”

Without the same amount of business occuring during the pandemic, which has resulted in many Kansans filing for unemployment, Thellman was afraid his farm’s employees would soon be out of a job, too.

However, just a few days after the orders from state and local leaders, Thellman and a business partner, Michael Beard, were able to create a new venture that aims to fill a local need while also keeping their operations afloat during an uncertain time. They launched a new grocery delivery service known as Sunflower Provisions, which offers the sale and delivery of their locally produced vegetables, fruits and meats, among many other items.

The service allows Lawrence-area residents to order groceries online with the option for home delivery or local pickup. The delivery option requires a minimum order of $50 and is available to residents within the Lawrence city limits. Others may pick up their orders, which must be a minimum of $30, at a businesses location in North Lawrence at certain times.

photo by: Contributed photo

These locally grown radishes are some of the fresh produce available through the Sunflower Provisions online grocery market. Scott Thellman, owner of Juniper Hill Farms, said the new business was started to help sell the produce while local farmers’ markets are closed for the coronavirus pandemic.

Beard is the owner of Meat LLC and restaurants are a large part of his business, Thellman said. So he and Thellman came together in mid-March to brainstorm ideas to protect their operations.

Just a few days after Beard and Tellman met, Sunflower Provisions website was up and running, which Thellman joked was an incredible achievement for a farmer and a meat distributor who are “not very tech savvy.”

In the process of launching, Thellman and Beard were able to connect with 1900 Barker, a cafe, and M&M Bakery to sell their products on the market as well. They’ve since added even more, including drinks like coffee and kombucha and other food products like beans and cheese.

“The local produce is really just getting started and as the season ramps up, we’ll have even more products that we carry,” Thellman said. “Our hope is (to add) more local vendors we don’t traditionally pull from.”

photo by: Contributed photo

Sunflower Provisions offers many different fruits and vegetables as part of its online grocery market. It also sells meat, dairy and drink products like coffee and kombucha.

Many of the products offered in the online market are what local residents would normally have access to at the Lawrence downtown farmers’ market. But the Lawrence market and other area farmers’ markets that were originally scheduled to begin operating this month are suspended because of the pandemic.

But the Sunflower Provision project highlights the shared effort from some local businesses coming together and trying to keep some normalcy during a tough period.

“It’s all come together very quickly to make sure we can all keep our employees employed and keep our businesses going so that — hopefully sooner than later — when this is all over we are all still going,” Thellman said.

What’s more, the new business isn’t just surviving, but thriving. Thellman said the delivery orders have increased to about 90 per delivery day, which is more than four times the amount Juniper Hill Farms used to deliver in its normal operation. The demand caught Thellman by surprise, but he believes the business is providing an important service to people who may be at risk of catching COVID-19 by allowing them stay home and still have access to quality food.

Additionally, Thellman said Sunflower Provisions has actually hired new employees, some of which had recently lost their former restaurant or delivery jobs because of the pandemic.

The farms and the market are taking extra steps — such as providing additional food safety products and making sure employees are social distancing — to ensure the employees and the market’s customers are safe. He said the employees of Sunflower Provisions are also being provided with groceries from the business.

“That’s been a neat thing we’ve been able to offer,” Thellman said. “It’s been a nice and unexpected rewarding side of it, making sure our employees get good food and limiting their trips to the grocery store.”

photo by: Contributed photo

Many boxes of locally produced groceries are stored before delivery to Lawrence-area residents. Sunflower Provisions began the new delivery service as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some day the pandemic will end and the stay-at-home orders will be rescinded, which will likely lead to Juniper Hill Farms, Meat LLC and the other involved organizations to get back to business as usual. But Thellman said he hopes Sunflower Provisions will continue into the future, regardless.

“If we’re able to build a program around it that makes the local food available in a one-stop shop, we would like to continue that, absolutely,” he said.

Sunflower Provisions deliveries are made on Tuesdays and Fridays. Orders for delivery made before 3 p.m. on Monday and Thursday will be delivered the next day. Pick up orders are available 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Tuesday and Friday at 100 Riverfront Drive, Ste. B.

For more information, check out the Sunflower Provisions website, sunflowerprovisions.com.