The brainchild of Pattison Farms and Pattison Pastoral Butchery owner Hayley Pattison, the idea is to share the cost of transporting produce to Melbourne.
Mrs Pattison said with 12 producers already showing interest, it is anticipated the first run to the city will take place in the second week of February.
Runs will then continue monthly, but could be more regular if other producers come on board or as demand dictates.
More meetings and discussions need to take place on the business structure moving forward.
Mrs Pattison said this will also include how to capitalise on the truck’s return to the local area.
“We all need to make the most efficient use of transport costs,” she said.
“I wanted to send my own produce to Melbourne, but I don’t have enough throughput yet to justify sending a truck on my own.
“I reached out to a few farmers in my existing network to discuss options, and from that, I opened it up a bit further and see who else might be interested.
“We had about a dozen attend the initial meeting.
“We then discussed that the truck can be used for freight back from Melbourne, which may suit some local businesses.”
Mrs Pattison said one of the farmers has his own refrigerated truck, which will be used to transport produce to Melbourne.
In Melbourne, the local truck will meet up with distributors to then deliver the produce to residential areas.
“Our plan is to start with the metropolitan area and then branch out to other areas.
“The local items going to Melbourne are being sold via one of three platforms - Farmer to Fridge, Farmer Butcher and my own Pattison Pastoral Butchery website.
“Some producers may also use the service to deliver to wholesale or straight to market.”
Mrs Pattison said the interested farmers so far include meat and egg producers, but she said the service would work for any type of producer.
She intends to speak with district fruit and vegetable producers about the opportunity in coming days and weeks.
Mrs Pattison said most of the local producers currently process their meats through Wangaratta via a service which departs from Finley.
But she said the group would also remain in contact with the Barham micro-abattoir about opting into the initiative.
The Barham facility opened late last year, but is currently only able to process chickens.
It is waiting on clearances to process red meat, which Mrs Pattison said could further grow the co-op of producers wanting to access Melbourne markets.
The overall aim is efficiency and cost savings, Mrs Pattison said.
“For me, it was about improving efficiencies of scale.
“The better we can share the costs of transport and freight, the more we can invest in our own businesses and on our own staff.
“This is an opportunity to improve and grow.”
Anyone interested in being involved in the transport group, and businesses wishing to utilise the return trips from Melbourne, are invited to contact Mrs Pattison on 0498 372 428.
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