Kirk Halpern’s food purveying business was put to the test shortly after it was founded. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he needed to shift his focus from restaurant delivery to home delivery.
“Solving complex problems requires quick decision-making and decades of experience working in the food industry nonstop,” Halpern said. “My team stays focused on every detail, consumer trend and unknown challenge that pops up, from weather issues to transportation problems to rising fuel prices and more. Our instant ability to make things happen in record time has positioned our company as a national industry leader.”
Farmers & Fishermen is a family-run food purveying business founded by Halpern and his son, Ben. In less than four years, the business has grown from $14 million in its first year to just under $50 million. Farmers & Fishermen has been featured on Good Morning America and QVC and won numerous awards for its workplace culture.
The company’s rapid growth has fed a critical need in the community, especially with those who are isolating and need food, along with giving a boost to small farmers and fishermen who need help to get their crops and bounties to customers. Halpern grew the company through the pandemic without firing or furloughing employees and pivoted overnight to build one of the most successful companies in his category in the U.S.
“Overnight, I shifted my company’s focus when the pandemic hit from restaurant delivery to include home delivery,” Halpern said. “That saved my employees jobs, furloughed no one and we even hired our employee’s family members along the way.
“We figured out how to help regional farmers and fishermen, chefs and other small food businesses, even when our industry was decimated. When the pandemic hit, these small businesses had no way to get their crops and catches to the customers. Our refrigerated Mercedes Sprinter vans, which we had secured ahead of the challenges, prepared us for the unknown.”
The company’s product line and services continue to evolve worldwide, flying in fresh products from all over the world to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. That includes fresh lamb from Australia, Patagonian salmon direct from Chile or Branzini from Turkey and beyond.
The company’s delivery area has expanded to include greater Atlanta, Athens, Macon, LaGrange and Auburn, Alabama. The next step is to ramp up home delivery on a national scale, including offering a fresh kosher seafood program.
Halpern, who has a law degree from Duke University, has been featured by The Washington Post, Eater Atlanta, Atlanta Magazine, ABC, WSB with Belinda Skelton, CBS, Bloomberg News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Atlanta Jewish Times and more.
