About the Food Domain: Commodity Handlers

Commodity Handlers
Commodity handlers buy food from the producers and then sell it to food processors. Their role in the food system is to assemble the food that producers grow and direct it to the organizations that need it. Producers grow a wide variety of items and are usually located a great distance from processors that use their products.

Commodity handlers allow producers to sell their products locally, without having to identify buyers themselves and ship their food items long distances. Food processors benefit by being able to contact one or two commodity handlers instead of hundreds of producers to purchase the products they need in the quantities that are required for commercial processing. Examples of commodity handlers are grain elevators and livestock exchanges.

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