About Niemann Harvest Market

Real Flavor. Real Taste. Real Value.

We believe in good food that tastes great. At Niemann Harvest Market, we strive to always provide our customers food choices with integrity and transparency and connect our customers and our associates to farmers, food makers and the land.

We have two Niemann Harvest Market locations both offering online shopping to serve our customers in Champaign, IL and Springfield, IL. For chef inspired meals, be sure to check out our store features and new and innovative foods in every department of our stores. Taste the farm difference at our Farmhouse Restaurant in Champaign, IL that serves farm fresh ingredients in a comfortable atmosphere. 

Share the Story

Every food product is grown or made somewhere, by someone. What’s the story? How is the product made? We work with producers and growers where the leadership team knows the product and might even make the product. We’re looking for real products made with a real human touch. And of course, this means that there really is a person or group to even talk to about these products.

It is important for our customers to know that the products featured here are hand-picked by the Niemann Harvest Market team and that there’s a rigorous curation process happening at Niemann Harvest Market. We will share these stories. That also means that the farmers, makers and manufacturers can openly share the stories with us, too.

We will share the story about

the farmer, the product and the process

that brought this food to the shelf.

A critical aspect of the food philosophy is to communicate the food philosophy and how it works. We don’t need to “teach” customers, but we do want to share with them. Sharing is all about turning customers on to new ideas, inspiring them to try new things and occasionally surprising them.

How does Niemann Harvest Market tell a Farmer story?

Ideally, we want to tell the farmer’s story, in their own words. We want to ask these farmers and producers questions and listen to their answers. This is part of knowing the farmers/producers and visiting with them, when possible:

  • What do you do? What do you make?
  • How do you do it? Why do you do it that way? What’s the heritage of the process? What’s the benefit?
  • What do people misunderstand about you? What do people misunderstand about farmers, more generally?

In the end, these are all open-ended questions. We’re not trying to put farmers into any neat categorization, but let them describe things as they see it. The Niemann Harvest Market brand is driven by a curiosity and genuine interest in farming, producing and making great food.

Why are we doing this?

We need to show to customers that we care about farmers and that we have a belief system at Niemann Harvest Market. We want to give farmers a voice, and let them speak inside the store experience. And we want to continually build relationships with farmers, producers and manufacturers, which will then lead to more connections and a bigger network of suppliers.

What are we hoping to accomplish?

It’s not enough to just put the products out and hope that customers will understand. We need to find innovative ways to tell the story of each product, in order to help engage customers. We want to build relationships with consumers, and create a reputation for the Niemann Harvest Market brand as a trustworthy editor.