community spotlight
A Healthy Start to a New Year Fresh Start Market Opens in Franklin by Nancy Somera
It might be Bonnie and Mark Corso steering the ship, but the swell of enthusiasm from the Franklin community has supported their plans to open Fresh Start Market. With more than 70 combined years of experience in the food industry—Mark in sales, distribution and grocery stores, and Bonnie in restaurants and food warehousing and distribution—an idea that was conceived nearly five years ago is now finally being realized. At first, they believed a stall at the now-popular Boston Public Market would be the right place to sell their curated selection of unique local products, but they were opposed to being in direct competition with the suppliers themselves, so they declined. With busy work lives and childrearing responsibilities to four, the over-extended Corsos decided to put their idea on hold. Then the pandemic hit and the way of doing business in most industries, including the food industry, was turned upside down. Bonnie quickly realized that smaller local farms had inventory that needed distribution. “I saw that mom-and-pop farmstand sales were increasing, so I started to make calls to farmers directly. Not only was inventory available, but farmers told me they would adjust to meet our needs,” says Bonnie. So, Fresh Start Market took form. A market study confirmed that the town of Franklin was not only receptive, but had been asking for a farm-to-table-style market with local, healthy, sustainably grown food. Once the Corso’s plans were learned, it soon became a community effort with numerous Franklin residents supporting their ideas. Faith Kaplan and Matthew Cail, of C&K Realty, provided invaluable advice and helped them find the market’s 6,200-square-foot space located in a plaza just outside the newly revamped center of town in high traffic and great visibility of route 140, close to Dean College and other local retailers. Also, Jim Ruzzo of BGood Restaurant sold them greatly discounted equipment that was no longer needed. 14
Boston | NaturalAwakeningsBoston.com
