3 Farm Success Stories in 2020

In the face of uncertainty due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Barn2Door has witnessed many Farms enjoy success as they bring their products direct-to-market, own their own customer relationships and make more revenue selling to local buyers. We know that 9 out of 10 American consumers want to buy local food, but 99% aren’t going to farmers markets. Furthermore, coronavirus cases have resulted in severe restrictions, causing schools, restaurants, bars and markets to close and open unpredictably and variably across the country. 

Farms need an alternative, dependable route-to-market that connects their high-quality, nutritious products with buyers eager to purchase safely and easily online for direct delivery or convenient pickup. At Barn2Door, we’re calling this Plan C: Covid-resilient, direct-to-Consumer eCommerce. 

So, what does Success with Plan C look like? Read on for three Farm stories who have evolved their business model, streamlined operations, and sold out in 2020, despite market uncertainties. 

1. SHEEDER CLOVERLEAF DAIRY

Grant Sheeder and his family own and operate Sheeder Cloverleaf Dairy, outside Des Moines Iowa. When the pandemic kept many older, loyal buyers at home and away from stores, Grant pitched an idea: what if they purchased a delivery truck and began doing direct home delivery? They’d make more money than selling wholesale in stores, cover costs on delivery with a small fee, and grow their orders and customer base with customers who actually grew up with a milkman! 

It all came together. Grant set up an online store and began taking pre-orders for their once weekly delivery days, offering their milk and dairy products, alongside an assortment of complementary eggs, coffee, baked goods, and artisanal products from other small businesses. He leveraged a routing app that integrated directly with Barn2Door, so he could map deliveries for efficiency on his smartphone, referencing the Pick and Pack List at each stop to simply grab the order, leave the box and go. Neighbors wandered over to ask about the deliveries, and buyers were delighted with the ease and convenience. Grant is expanding their product offerings, marketing channels and adding delivery days to keep up with demand! 

2. DIRTY GIRL PRODUCE

Dirty Girl Produce is an iconic Bay Area Farm which served some of the largest markets and well-known restaurants in San Francisco. When market traffic slowed and restaurants closed, they lost over half of their business. Owner Joe Schirmer, however, didn’t grow any less food. “We kept the same footprint. We didn’t stop or shrink. We went for it and we’re selling everything—probably more!” 

To replace lost restaurant sales, Dirty Girl Produces launched their “box program”, a weekly subscription to a farmers-choice variety of organic veggies and canned goods straight from the Farm to customers’ doorsteps. “The box program gives us a bunch of retail sales from customers that we were missing at the markets. We used to drive past 100,000 people every Saturday, so as soon as we opened that up for delivery it just exploded.” 

In addition to recovering lost sales, Joe found that transitioning sales online helped him learn customer names from faces he’d seen weekly for years. Better yet, he had their emails and social handles, making it easier to connect with them online and drive repeat sales. “I would pay ten times more in monthly fees, because the cost is pretty reasonable—especially for the amount of tech support I receive. I’m a tech-learner, so the amount of tech support is just clutch, and you really need it going online, in addition to getting our website and social media set up.” 

You can hear more from Joe in his DIRECT Farm Podcast episode, “Reinventing your Farm’s Business Plan with Dirty Girl Produce”.

3. BENNETT FARMS

Tom Bennett owns Bennett Farms in Michigan, with his wife and six children. They started selling pasture-raised pork and poultry several years ago, blanketing neighborhoods with flyers and attending many farmers markets each week. In 2019 they moved their sales online, and the Farm kicked into full-tilt. Tom gave up his off-Farm job and began fielding requests for direct home delivery. Soon after they launched that service, they decided to try another convenient, innovative tactic: subscriptions. 

In 2020, Tom’s 12-month farmers’ choice bundle boxes have sold out, and their subscription business now underwrites the Farm. As Tom put it at the 2020 DIRECT Farm Conference, “Everything else could dry up. The farmers markets could close and wholesale orders disappear, but if we just have subscription orders we can cover our costs.” He continued that the peace of mind that revenue security offers is backed by the resilience of subscription customers all starting at different times of year—because the start/stop times overlap, he never has to worry about all subscriptions stopping at once. 

Better yet, subscription customers get the most premium products and their boxes can be packed anytime of month, which saves Tom and his team time and keeps the days leading up to deliveries calmer. Watch Tom explain how subscriptions are great for his customers, and his Farm in the full 15-minute session from the 2020 DIRECT Conference.

Across the country, Farms are selling out, streamlining sales and delighting customers while building more resilient businesses—no matter the social or economic climate. For more information on how Barn2Door works, watch this 5 minute video.