Farmer Spotlight: Tagge's Famous Fruit & Veggie Farms
Located in Perry, Utah, Tagge’s is famous in their community for locally grown fruits and vegetables. A family-operated Farm business with 134 acres of fruit trees, berries, corn, pumpkins, squash, Tagge’s has become a staple in their local community by building a convenient Subscription program, also known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
We recently sat down with Laci Tagge, on the Direct Farm Podcast to discuss Tagge’s Famous Fruit and the tactics they’ve used to build a thriving Farm business. As the newest member of the Farm Advisory Network, Laci shared how her family uses CSA Subscriptions to grow their customer base and streamline operations to drive revenue and save time.
The Need to Streamline Business Operations
For many Farmers, there are not enough hours in the day to manage the Farm, grow the business, juggle orders, and tackle incoming customer requests. Even though business had grown significantly, the Tagge family knew that in order to grow exponentially, they had to make a change. “There were two goals for us as we were looking to streamline our business. One was to reduce the time we spent on the computer and the second goal was to make more money. That's why when we found Barn2Door, we knew it was the right choice for our business.”
Originally, Tagge’s order management system occurred on an excel sheet. With up to 1,200 Subscriptions, typing every single order into a spreadsheet took up too much time. “[My mom] would be on the computer for three to four hours every night. She’d work her day shift at the warehouse, then wake up to 30 or 40 emails of new orders. We would get orders from the old website and then we would have to manually type them into an Excel spreadsheet. It was complicated and took up too much time.”
Saving time, streamlining operations, and saving money was at the top of their list when looking to make a change for their business. Laci shared, “Barn2Door was a great price for the level of support we received. It was also so easy transitioning from our old system to Barn2Door. The Support Barn2Door offers is amazing! They did all the legwork for me, putting my old system into the new system. It really set me up for success from the get-go.”
Pivoting to Barn2Door helped Tagge’s increase efficiency, drive the number of orders they could take, and reduce the amount of time it took to fulfill their orders. “I love what Barn2Door has done for our business and how much it has helped us grow and sell. I want other Farmers to learn that they can be successful with online sales and do things with their business – whether it’s selling add-ons or partnering with other Farms to create a profitable business – so we can all continue doing what we love to do, which is feed our communities. Barn2Door is always willing to improve, and it's been exciting to be a part of the growth.”
Read: Why Farms Experience 4x Average Cart Conversion Rates on Barn2Door
Read: Tactics that 3 Farms Implemented to Grow to $100k in 1 Year
The Key to Building a Large, Loyal Customer Base
No Farm or business starts with a built-in customer base. This holds true for our most successful Farms that have built 6-figure businesses powered by Barn2Door. To have loyal customers, the key is to not only nurture existing relationships, but also leverage tactics to consistently grow your contact list. Laci shared that they’ve focused on ensuring their brand is in front of customers so your Farm remains top of mind:
“You must have an amazing product. We impress with our product, and we always try to offer the best customer service to make people happy. Social media has helped get our word out. But, at the core, it really started with providing high-quality, fresh fruit. That's what starts your customer base. And then once you win them over, they keep coming back!”
Tagge’s has also leveraged a unique marketing tactic that makes their brand memorable: including a name to your Farm products. For Tagge’s, their peaches aren’t like any other peach, they’re “Brigham City Peaches.” Their peaches are tied to the city, tied to the Farm, and therefore, remain top of mind among customers.
“People remember those names and where they got it. And they also know it's fresh. If they go to the grocery store, they’ll see a different name. It's not going to be Brigham City Peaches, and they're going to remember they have to get the Brigham City Peaches from us! At our farmer's market stands, we have a sign that says Brigham City Peaches, and people come straight to it!”
Convenience has also played a key role in growing Tagge’s brand awareness in the community. “Our customers love our online store. Plus, it’s so easy to send reminder emails to our contact list that say ‘hey, buy an extra box of peaches’ or, ‘get ‘this’. They love that they know what's in season and what they can add to their box every week. We have so many CSA members now that we decided to create a Facebook Group for all of them to share recipes and talk with one another. Some customers have been with us forever that can answer a lot of the basic questions because they know how it works! It’s great!”
Tagge’s also incentives their customers to post on NextDoor and other community platforms to spread the word about their Farm organically. Through store credits and add-ons, they draw in new business and keep current customers loyal and happy!
The Key to CSA Subscriptions & Product Add-Ons
While Tagge’s is known for their fruits, they also run a very successful CSA box. With high retention rates for their Seasonal CSA Subscriptions – customers sign up for the next season as soon as the prior has ended. Why? Because Tagge’s prioritizes their CSA Members with access to exclusive discounts and a private store.
“Our CSA Members get the best of the best. They’re committing to us, so we want to make their experience the best we can. That’s why to be a part of any exclusive stuff – you have to be a CSA member! That’s another reason why Barn2Door has helped us so much – it’s easy to utilize our Private Store. I can have a discount on bulk peaches and if they want that, they have to be a CSA member.”
Another way Tagge’s has retained their CSA Members is through their different box sizes that cater to different family household needs. With options for a one-person box, two-person box, and a four-person box, Tagge’s appeals to a wider audience and gained customers back by foregoing their “big box” that fed up to 6 people!
Tagge’s CSA Members have become loyal to their business as they’ve signed up to receive products on a recurring basis. However, even though these are loyal customers, Laci realizes the power of email order reminders to generate additional income from those that already trust your brand:
“I always get a little nervous about asking for more money because we’ve already signed them up for our CSA, which is already a $300-$800 commitment. However, I send out weekly Order Reminders because if they don't want to buy, they won't buy, but if they want to buy, they will! The more I send Order Reminders, the more successful it is. People want our add-ons and appreciate the reminder and it’s really helped us generate more income for the business.”
Laci sends CSA Members specific add-on recommendations too. For example, she’ll suggest different jams or salsas every week – depending on what their Members received in their Subscription box. “The add-ons are great because it pays for our little expenses. Add-ons were the reason why I was initially so excited about Barn2Door! In fact, this year alone I’ve sold about $80,000 in add-ons. It’s proven to be an excellent way to generate extra sales and revenue for the business.”
In addition to having a good product, convenience is really the tipping point to Farm success. “It’s all about convenience, right? That’s why our buyers can easily pick up or have their CSA delivered straight to their doorstep. They love the flexibility because when they sign up they have two options: have it delivered to their house for a $15 fee, or they can go pick it up at one of our pickup locations. We have over 60 different pickup locations where it's free – so it’s convenient for everyone’s schedule.”
When asked what’s next Laci discussed continuing to optimize efficiencies and drive Farm sales. As a leader in delivering fresh fruit and vegetables to communities throughout Utah, Tagge’s is committed to serving their customers one CSA box at a time! At Barn2Door, we’re thrilled to provide Farms with an all-in-one solution to power their businesses. We’re humbled to work with Farmers like Tagge’s Famous Fruit and Veggie Farms.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution to grow and manage your Farm business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.