Farmer Spotlight: Honey Bee Hills Farm
Located in the rolling lands of Prospect Hills, North Carolina, Honey Bee Hills Farm is a Certified-Organic Produce operation. Covering 15 acres, Liz and Rich Mason left their careers in international development to plant some roots (literally!), dedicating their time to growing fresh food for the local communities surrounding their Farm.
As one of the newest members of the Barn2Door Farm Advisor Network, we recently sat down with Liz on the Direct Farm Podcast to learn more about Honey Bee Hills and how they’ve created a thriving Produce business.
Planting the Seeds to Build a Direct Farm Business
Liz and Rich “grow a bit of everything and a whole lot of a few things.” Honey Bee Hills runs a year-round CSA between their organic strawberries in the summer to kale, winter squash, and gourds in the Fall. Starting from a plot that has now expanded across 15 acres, Honey Bee Hills is growing in more ways than one.
With eight employees on the Farm, Liz discussed that it was a steep learning curve transitioning from a full-time salaried employee to hiring staff and running a business. “It’s never as simple as hiring someone, but finding people who fit with the culture that you want to build as an organization is critical to achieving your goals. If you’ve never hired anyone before, it's a skill to figure out what people are good at and what they like to do. But, when you learn how to uncover people’s strengths and how they can help grow the business, that’s important.”
Read: Farmer Checklist to Build a Direct Business (14-mins)
Convenience is the Key to Success
When all the changes and uncertainty over the past year, Honey Bee Hills knew they needed to offer buyers a convenient way to access their products. Starting a direct delivery service was the key to attracting more customers and expanding their reach locally. “People were excited for Farm-fresh, organic produce to come to their doorsteps. Direct delivery was an opportunity for us to reach our current customers and broaden our audience. We also implemented pre-orders at our pickup locations, so Customers could rely on access to organic products and safely pick up their orders.”
Before Barn2Door, Liz spent hours working with other systems to track orders, update inventory, and manage their five pickup locations and four delivery schedules. The decision to streamline her processes was easy when she realized that Barn2Door’s solution was built with Farmers’ needs in mind: “I used to track everything in a spreadsheet or with another system, but I was missing the data that Barn2Door offers. Knowing that our customers would still want these conveniences (direct-delivery and local pickups) once the markets re-opened, I needed a platform to help my business grow long-term. Everything got complicated fast before we started using Barn2Door. Now, the reporting that comes from the system works well for our business and helps us make more informed decisions.”
With a delivery process and convenient pickup locations in place, it was time for Liz to re-launch their CSA program. “Barn2Door made the CSA process easier for us, where the schedules are flexible to meet all of our customers’ needs. Our buyers can choose to order for an entire season, pick their add-ons, and submit payment. With flexible purchase options - rewarding the customers that pay up-front where they can ‘subscribe and save’ or pay-as-they-go - which a lot of people like too.”
With a range of buyer preferences, Liz shared the flexibility in CSA schedules and payment options helps her maintain a loyal customer base through the seasons. “We have a year-round CSA that we split into three seasons. Many people want the summer produce but don’t necessarily want to sign up for the winter CSA. Barn2Door makes it possible so that the folks in our summer CSA can opt-out of the Fall CSA but can still visit the store and fill their carts up with whatever they want. We’re not losing customers when the seasons change, and our buyers can still interact with our Farm without having to make that commitment.”
Fostering a Loyal Customer Base with Brand Awareness
Liz has found that consistently engaging her customers on social media and email is the key to staying at the top of her customers’ minds. “I post on our social channels six days a week - whether it’s a view from our land, educating customers about our process and how we Farm, or providing an update on what we have available for the week.” Liz uses the 3 E’s - education, entertainment, and eCommerce to balance the content that she shares. Mixing the types of content in this way allows Liz to create a loyal customer base and a recognizable Brand.
“A little bit of transparency goes a long way. There’s plenty of unpleasant things that happen on the Farm, but it’s important to share both sides. Before I started farming, I never thought about the seasonality of vegetables. Education has been a huge thing for us where we use our different channels to share our knowledge and understanding of the season, why we are certified Organic, and what that means. These are all interesting parts of the Farm and something that we’re blessed to share with others.”
By being open and honest with customers, Liz creates meaningful connections with the community. “When we share why a product isn’t available due to a pest, disease, or lack of rain, our customers value our honesty and always seem to return when they see that product is available again.”
Leveraging Email Marketing to Drive Sales
Liz uses the Barn2Door + Mailchimp integration to send order reminders, update CSA customers, and drive people to shop from the Honey Bee Hills Farm store. Between two weekly newsletters, Liz sees a direct connection between the emails she sends out and the orders that roll in. “I would say about 80% of our online sales occur within six hours after I send our newsletter.” Email is proven to be the most effective way to reach customers and drive Farm orders.
Read: Give your Farm Revenue a Boost up to 35% with Barn2Door + Mailchimp
Listen: Direct Farm Tactics #1: Barn2Door + Mailchimp Customer Journeys
Subscriptions Secure Cash Flow Throughout the Seasons
With inconsistent attendance at the farmer’s markets, Liz relies on the recurring revenue from Subscriptions to build customer relationships, smooth out their sales volume, and plan inventory in advance. “Offering Subscriptions gives our customers a guaranteed weekly interaction with the Farm. A lot of our customers only subscribe weekly - and that’s it! We offer two options - one large Subscription and one small. Those that purchase the smaller box are always adding things to their orders. That’s also where my emails come in to remind subscribers what we have available and what they can add to their carts.”
Subscriptions give your business cash flow every month and can help your Farm build trust among Buyers. “The Subscription format is really nice for us because it creates long-term relationships with those customers while smoothing out our sales. When a Farm is reliant on a farmer’s market - there’s a lot of variables that can affect your sales - weather, football games, or other local events. With Subscriptions, we know what our demand is in advance and can spread it out over the season. Barn2Door makes it easier to track all of these things and allows our Buyers to skip, double-up, add-on, or whatever else they need to do.”
What’s Next for Honey Bee Hills Farm
As their land is at capacity for growing crops, Liz explained that they’re committed to producing higher yields, growing their CSA program, and reducing their plastic usage - beginning with their packaging.
We’re honored to work with Farmers like Liz and Rich, who are committed to providing their community with convenient access to local food. Barn2Door is an all-in-one solution that helps Farmers grow and manage their businesses. If you’re curious to learn why the most successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.