Washington Hmong Farmers Cooperative Makes First Sale to Central Coop!

n the summer of 2023, Washington Hmong Farmers Cooperative (WHFC), made its first sale to Seattle’s Central Coop, a huge first step, in a long line of hard won accomplishments. 

WHFC  is a newly formed Cooperative that exists to serve and expand the market potential of Hmong Farmers in the Puget Sound region. The Hmong migrated from southern China in the nineteenth century to the mountainous areas of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

During the Vietnam War the Hmong worked with the American CIA in the “secret war” in Laos and were forced to flee their homeland after the victory of the communists. After spending time in refugee camps in Thailand, many Hmong resettled in cities United States, Including Seattle. Approximately 100 Hmong families farm outside of Seattle.

The cooperative’s focus is to provide consistent and increased market potential for Hmong vegetable and flower farmers in the region. Bringing them together, providing the opportunity to sell their products in larger quantities, more consistently to wholesale and retail buyers, as well as direct to consumers.

The co-op is using the online sales platform, Local Food Marketplace, which provides customers with fast, simple, and efficient ordering. Prior to the formation of the WHFC, member farmers had all been marketing their products independently.

The seeds of the WHFC began in the summer of 2020 when the Hmong Association of Washington (HAW) and Friendly Hmong Farms CSA joined together to create an order and delivery service for Hmong Farmers who had lost their main source of income during the pandemic when farmers markets shut down. HAW then approached the Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) seeking technical support to assist these farmers in forming their own marketing cooperative. 

With the assistance of HAW and NABC, a steering committee of 6 farmers formed to begin the cooperative development process. In April of 2022 the WHFC, America’s first Hmong Farmers Cooperative, was officially incorporated.