A Taste of the Berkshires at Logan International Airport

Fans of many Berkshire artisan foods can now get them on the fly at Berkshire Farms Market. The newest outpost from Tastes on the Fly Restaurant Group, opens April 30 at Boston's Logan International Airport in the Terminal B connector.

Berkshire Farm & Table has partnered with Berkshire Farms Market, the newest grab-and-go retail outlet for Tastes on the Fly, which specializes in bringing outposts of local dining establishments to airports. Over the last nine months, Berkshire Farm & Table has been working with the Berkshire Farms Market team to help facilitate a strong Berkshire food presence in the store.

"The Berkshire Farms Market opens up extraordinary sales and marketing opportunities for our region," said Angela Cardinali, founder and director of Berkshire Farm & Table. "With Logan International servicing 1.9 million passengers annually, not only will this retail space provide a high-volume outlet for our region's products to sell to a captive audience and increase revenue for food makers, it presents a vital portal for our region to establish a presence as a food source and food destination to travelers."

Eat Local. Travel Global.

A collection of Berkshire food makers will be represented in the airport store including Berkshire Bark, Berkshire Blue, Berle Farm, Bola Granola, Cookiehead, Cricket Creek Farm, David's Biscotti, Fire Cider, Katalyst Kombucha, Klara's Cookies, The Red Lion Inn and more. An assortment of Berkshire regional cookbooks and Berkshire authors will be curated by The Red Lion Inn Gift Shop in Stockbridge, Mass.

Back in July 2013, Berkshire Farm & Table began a dialog with retail marketplace developer Steve Carlin to curate a selection of items for Berkshire Farms Market. In addition to sourcing a collection of products, Berkshire Farm & Table welcomed the Tastes on the Fly operations team to The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge in early October for a day-long meeting and tour of the region to taste products and meet several of the region's food makers.

The 1,200-square foot Berkshire Farms Market, located in the new United Airlines Terminal B, will feature foods grown and crafted in the Northeast region. It is based on Tastes on the Fly's award-winning 5,000-square foot Napa Farms Market in San Francisco International Airport. That innovative airport-based, farm-fresh food experience celebrates the best of the region's artisan food purveyors and vendors in a modern, sustainable environment.

"As a small farm, it can be challenging to break into new markets and connect with retail outlets," said Suzy Konecky, farmer at Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown. "Berkshire Farm & Table has made a significant impact on our business by helping to bridge this gap between production and sales and has been supportive in facilitating this whole process. We are grateful that Berkshire Farms Market is going to carry real food made by small farmers, and Berkshire Farm & Table is helping to sustain our landscape by facilitating this connection."

To reinforce a taste of place and as part of the sourcing and marketing partnership, Berkshire Farm & Table has created a contemporary map of the Berkshire region to be included on the Berkshire Farms Market bag along with information about Berkshire food culture, which will be given out with each purchase.

"We need more people coming to the Berkshires in the non-summer months to help boost our economy," said Red Lion Inn Chef Brian Alberg, founding chair of Berkshire Farm & Table. "We believe through agritourism, food craft and regional cuisine, we can lure food lovers who enjoy travel (and travelers who love to eat) to come taste what is happening here in Western Massachusetts. The Berkshire Farms Market allows us to reach this audience directly and tell the story of what we are doing here as farmers, food makers and chefs."