The North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU), in partnership with Agraria LLC and the Farmers Restaurant Group, has opened its sixth Founding Farmers restaurant, this time in King of Prussia, Pa. This is the organization’s first location outside of the DC Beltway, since opening its first farmer-owned restaurant in 2006. The group plans to open a seventh restaurant early next year in Reston, Va. “If you would have told me 11 years ago that we’d have six restaurants serving 43,000 guests a week, I would have said, ‘No Way,’” said NDFU President Mark Watne. “The response has been phenomenal.”
Unlike the organization’s five other restaurants, Founding Farmers King of Prussia features a bakery and café on its first level for walk-in guests. The restaurant’s goal is to serve 100 percent U.S. family farm-sourced food. Last month, NDFU started trucking flour from the state mill in North Dakota and sugar from American Crystal, which serves the Upper Midwest, to the East Coast. Potatoes and other raw commodities will soon be shipped with stops along the way to pick up commodities, such as butter in Minnesota and cheese in Wisconsin.
