“At Harvest Market you feel seen and known and part of something more than a grocery store. It’s a real place.”

Recent news stories exposing the frightening vulnerability and unsustainability of our global food chains render the long-held vision of Harvest Market founder and co-owner Bob Kleszics—to support local food and farming—more important than ever.

“The beauty of being local, and small, is that we have more flexibility in filling gaps in the supply chain,” says Harvest Market Marketing and Sustainability Manager Holly Tyson. “We rely more on our neighbors than on what’s coming from across the ocean, or from California.”

Words like nourishing, safe, and delicious encapsulate the essence of the Hockessin store, which has been growing, quietly and sustainably, since 1995. “We offer one of the region’s best selections of natural foods—or what our great-grandparents simply called ‘food,’” Bob says. A commitment to real food and to treating people with care and integrity has enabled Harvest Market to serve the community and support the local food economy in important ways over the past decades. “We care for each other, the environment, and our customers,” Holly says. “Food is a transformative way of connecting with one another.”

“At Harvest Market you feel seen and known and part of something more than a grocery store,” says Megan Bushnell, Harvest Market Chef and Kitchen Manager. “It’s a real place.”

“My motto is, ‘Use good ingredients and don’t ruin it,’” says Harvest Market Chef and Kitchen Manager Megan Bushnell. “It’s about letting food have its integrity and singing the song it wants to sing.”

Real Food

Just as farmers market shoppers meet the people who grow their food, so Harvest Market knows the farmers who grow and produce products like Dr. Elkins’ Beef, Stoltzfus eggs, Mother Earth Organic mushrooms, Organic Mechanics soil, and many more. The names of farms, and farmers who have become friends, roll off their tongues as Holly and Megan describe the abundance they bring to Harvest Market. Bob is a gardener and grower at heart, and Harvest Market’s beautiful produce section reflects that, Holly says.

“We’re so fortunate to live in this nest of agriculture,” Megan says. “I love it when there is a personal connection with farmers or when I see one of our vendors, like Birch Run or Bee Our Guest, at the KSQ Farmers Market.”

Harvest Market carries a wide selection of products—from groceries and supplements to cleaning products and frozen foods. “We offer customers peace of mind because 100% of the products we carry are made with integrity, strictly vetted, and non-GMO verified.” That vetting process never ends, Holly says, as staff continually follow up with vendors to ensure ingredients and processes haven’t changed.

“GMOs and other nasty things can live in all sorts of terminology,” Holly says, but Harvest Market buyers are experts in navigating this world of disinformation and misinformation to keep customers safe. “Shoppers don’t have to read all the fine print—that’s been done, and you can just shop,” Megan says. “It’s reassuring to shoppers, but also to us as employees.”

In part as a response to supply-chain and quality-control issues, Harvest Market has recently launched its own line of branded nutritional supplements as part of its curated selection. Holly also loves to be able to highlight local products, from makers and artisans like Bee Our Guest and Give A Fig, “that truly represent the amazing place this is.”

The Harvest Market Power Salad feels like exactly what your body needs and craves.

Real Food to Go

“It’s delicious and my body needed it” might be the best summation of the “Real Food to Go” that Megan and her staff prepare from scratch every day with care, heart, and the same fresh ingredients customers find in the store. “My motto is, ‘Use good ingredients and don’t ruin it,’” Megan says with a smile. “It’s about letting food have its integrity and singing the song it wants to sing.”

The Power Salad was the first salad Megan introduced at Harvest Market. Its fresh ingredients, flavors, colors, textures, and nutrients, together with a Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette made with 100% extra virgin olive oil, create a salad that feels like exactly what your body needs and craves.

Megan brings out the unique cultures and talents of her staff to meet the community’s desire for appetizing prepared foods made with pure, simple ingredients. Thanks to staff member Fumie Kurtz, for example, Harvest Market is one of the only places with sushi rolls made from organic ingredients. Even the wasabi is made from scratch, and the salmon is as close to local as fresh salmon can be—Wild for Salmon fillets are caught by Pennsylvania fishermen in Alaska, frozen on the boat, and shipped here.

“We honor all dietary restrictions and make food that most people can enjoy,” Megan says, without the fillers and chemicals and “weird stuff” that’s mixed into many foods for those with food intolerances and sensitivities. She describes the alchemy of bringing together all-natural ingredients including potatoes, carrots, olive oil, spices, and nutritional yeast to create a flavorful, all-natural, and dairy-free cheese sauce. Harvest Market Kitchen has a special niche for paleo-friendly and gluten-free items—especially dessert items—so that people following these diets can find treats that are both safe and delicious.

The exponential growth of Harvest Market Kitchen (HMK) speaks for itself. When Megan arrived in 2014, she had a four-foot section of shelf in the store and three staff members in the kitchen. Today she has a staff of over 20, and between them they work two shifts, seven days a week, to keep a 12-foot case and a bakery section filled with freshly made soups, salads, dinner options, sandwiches, desserts, and more. The Harvest Market kitchen, which is certified by the Green Restaurant Association, sources quality, fair-trade, local, organic, and wild-caught ingredients and adheres to protocols for composting and using packaging made from recycled materials.

Megan describes her kitchen staff, with people from different countries, backgrounds, and generations, as harmonious. “We’re all invested in how the food comes out,” Megan says, and that spirit of harmony infuses the food. “And we’re hiring!” she says with a smile. “If you have passion, we can teach you the rest.”

Real People: An Award-Winning Workplace

“The people who work here are very committed to serving the community and leaving the world a better place,” Holly says, “and that all starts with Bob and Karen.” That thread of integrity runs through all aspects of the business—from the people they hire to the food they source and the connections they make. Holly has worked at Harvest Market for a decade now, and store manager Staci, Leslie, and many others have been there even longer. “There’s lots of female leadership,” she says.

“Our staff is our best asset,” Megan says. “They’re really knowledgeable and dedicated. People who come into the store feel cared for.” And the staff themselves feel respected. Continuing education, opportunities to learn and grow in their roles, benefits, fair wages, and a caring environment where employees feel valued and respected all make Harvest Market, which received a Top Workplaces Award for 2021, a great place to work.

When COVID hit two years ago, Harvest Market pivoted swiftly, adopting cleaning, masking, and social distancing protocols, sparing no expense for filters, fans, and extra staff, and continually adapting and responding to new information and guidance from the CDC. Holly and Megan laugh as they describe the many days they spent outside explaining the lines and in-store protocols to waiting customers as being like preparing people for a Disney ride. “It was a challenging time,” Holly says. “We wanted to be respectful of people’s choices but also mindful of our responsibility to our staff and the community.” These early and ongoing precautions, she says, have been rewarded by customer trust.

“Our staff is our best asset,” Megan says. “They’re really knowledgeable and dedicated. People who come into the store feel cared for.”

Real Growth

Harvest Market has moved into larger premises several times over the years and is now nudging at the seams in the backrooms of their current location at 7417 Lancaster Pike in Hockessin. This strong and steady growth reflects the growth in the natural foods sector. People are increasingly coming to understand the damage caused by chemicals and genetic modification—but also the tremendous benefits of finding health through food.

The message that real food is for real people helps to diminish the feeling of elitism that some people attach to natural foods, and as the business has grown the Harvest Market customer profile has also expanded. Many younger people, for example, are realizing how important it is to eat real, healthy food—for their own health as well as for that of the planet.

“Often we’ll see people come in for a specific purpose—looking for a good protein shake, for example, or prenatal nutrition, or with a new diagnosis of celiac disease or a food allergy or sensitivity,” Holly says. Harvest Market staff do a lot of active listening, she says. “People often come for help. Someone might say, ‘I can’t have dairy or gluten now—what will I eat?’ And we’re here to listen and show them all the great options they have. The pathway to health is different for every individual.”

As pandemic restrictions are eased, Harvest Market is looking forward to bringing back some fun events, including a “Cheese and Bees” event that Harvest Market cheese monger Abby Rex is creating. Holly says she’s missed opportunities to share more about Harvest Market at farmers markets and other venues over the past few years. “It’s a joyful place to represent,” she says.

Real Partnerships: Harvest Market and Local Farmers Markets

Far from being a competitor with local farmers markets, all outlets offering fresh, local food complement one another and strengthen local people and the local food economy. Everyone benefits, Holly says, in a kind of beautiful symbiosis. “We encourage people to go to their local farmers market to get what they love there and to come here for other things. We’re the farmers market that’s open every day of the week,” she says with a smile.

KSQ Farmers Market Manager Ros Fenton is grateful for the ongoing support of community partners like Harvest Market. “Farmers markets don’t just happen,” she says. “Like any program that runs smoothly, a successful farmers market requires a significant investment of time and resources through every season. The KSQ Farmers Market is a year-round program of the nonprofit Kennett Collaborative (formerly Historic Kennett Square), which has championed and funded the market here in Kennett Square for decades. From insurance to signage and staff time, those ‘hidden costs’ of the market are always greater than the low participation fees we ask of the small, local businesses at market. Without sponsorship from local businesses like Harvest Market, Arthur Hall Insurance, Lester Water, Organic Mechanics, WasteWell, and WorKS, the market wouldn’t exist.” Holly, who ran the KSQ Farmers Market herself for several years, understands this well.

In addition to being longtime and generous supporter of the KSQ Farmers Market, Harvest Market supports the New Garden Growers Market, Coverdale Farm Preserve, and many other initiatives. This kind of community investment is all an integral part of living out Bob’s original vision to support local food and farming.

Although we can only guess what the next months and harvest seasons will bring around the world, our community is fortunate to be able to reap the benefits of our beautifully rich and diverse local agriculture.

Find out more at https://www.harvestmarketnaturalfoods.com and follow them @harvestmarket