From Wholesale to Retail: How CSA Subscriptions Fueled their Growth
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we're delighted to host Angela Brittain, CSA Program Manager at County Line Harvest. Listen as Angela shares how they pivoted County Line Harvest's model and started offering CSAs during the pandemic.
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Intro
Allyssa Knutson: [00:00:26] Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. We have got a great conversation for you today. I'm very excited for our Farm Advisor conversation with Angela Brittain from County Line Harvest. Welcome Angela.
Angela Brittain: [00:00:40] Thank you, Alyssa. Thanks for having me.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:00:42] Oh, it's great to have you here. I'm looking forward to this. First and foremost, I would say let's just start with a quick introduction. Why don't you introduce yourself? How you got into farming? Selling direct online and a little bit more about your background as well as County Line Harvest background.
Angela Brittain: [00:00:59] So I got into farming because I grew up with tales of my mom talking about her childhood being raised on her grandparents' dairy farm and my dad subsequently working for them, although they would meet till 30 years later in rural New Jersey, it was very much a lifestyle. And then as I got older, I went and I worked on farms in, Whidbey Island or on Whidbey Island and I did a couple seasons vegetable farming up there.
I came back to Los Angeles, which is my home base. And I really was super spoiled by having access to all this free, amazing organic produce during my farm season. And then I moved back to the city and I couldn't afford it. So I was shopping at the farmer's market one day when County Line had a help wanted sign.
And I just said, 'Hey. I have farmer's market experience. You want some help?' And so I started working for them just in their farmer's market booth and County Line at that point, it was 2019. So they were founded in 2000, would have been there 19th season farming. They started up on the Sonoma Marin County Line by a guy named David Retsky and that's where the name comes from.
It was six acres. They started out by doing heirloom lettuces and Italian chicories and really specializing in just trying to find what grows really well in that region. Cut to 20 years later. There, and they have a second farm location down in thermal, California, which is the Coachella Valley area. That's a winter farm, so they go October through June, down there, and then they still have a Northern farm that's in Petaluma that has grown to 30 acres. So, and that goes all year round.
So they pretty much up until 2020, we're selling mostly to wholesale distributor, high-end restaurants, and farmer's markets to the public, and then COVID-19 happened and they we're like, 'wow, we have fields this food and nowhere to send them' because, you know, tech campuses that they had been distributing to restaurants, everything just shut down.
At a time when nobody really knew what was happening or what the food systems were going to turn into, if they were just going to completely crumble. The other farm owner, Megan Strom who mostly manages the Southern farm, had this idea of let's start a CSA program. I think it wasn't on their radar before because they just couldn't figure out how to connect to enough people individually to really make it worthwhile.
And then within the first week of the pandemic hitting one of our frequent shoppers and just a friend of the farm, Jillian Ferguson from KCRW asked Megan to be interviewed. And then another chef had offered her restaurant space to pass, produce boxes out if we wanted. So my boss very, very quickly put together the farm very first CSA program, 20 years into its existence.
And, that just blew right up. Nobody was like, anticipating it. You know, we were like, Oh, let's just try and like, make sure people still have food. People were running to go to grocery stores. So, and it just kind of evolved into this really huge thing that a lot of people ended up trying and sticking with.
I think that was just about a year ago, I think March 20th, 2020 was like the first distribution day. We've just had a year of our CSA program and have handed out boxes every single week since. So it's been a journey as, as we've all been on this last year. Um, But it felt really good, really, really good to be able to provide access. To healthy food at a time that everything else is so uncertain.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:04:39] I think the growth there is truly inspiring to see, not only are there now two locations for a County Line Harvest, but also how you've completely. I've been able to flip the business model and go from strictly wholesale, primarily retail and supporting restaurants to now those CSA boxes.
So can you touch on just a little bit more about those conversations on how you went from one farm to now two major locations now a seasonal location, which is more focused in farming during the winter time. But you also are supporting the farm up North and then also that decision to go into CSA boxes and how that probably was a decision that you didn't think about, you know, 20 years ago, or, you know, the farm didn't think about 20 years ago, but what were some of those deciding factors that kind of led you to, to flip and do and switch to direct to market?
Angela Brittain: [00:05:30] Yeah. So I guess this is a good time to distinguish that I only started working for County Line two years ago and now I am part of their team in LA that kind of runs the CSA program and like I said before that I had just been working in the booth and I was kind of like the candidate to do the CSA program.
So I wasn't so much a part of the conversation of why they decided to open a second farm. But my understanding of it is that they just had the demand, just they hadn't been doing what they could to make, you know, really delicious organic food. And I think a lot of that was. You know, listening to the land, trying to work with the land and really be like, what wants to grow here and not trying to force anything.
Their methods have been completely organic since the beginning. So my understanding is that they just had so much of a demand in the Bay Area. That it warranted them seeking a second property down in the South. They were able to get a lot of guidance from Martine who was a friend and eventually became an employee of County Line. And they just have an amazing crew of farm workers who, some of whom have been with them for 13, 15 years, who really are just out there every day. Working with the land and tending the crops.
In terms of what made the decision to like start a CSA program, I think it was a lot of just, you know, equal parts, financial, and just let's make sure that people can still eat and that we can still pay our employees and I think keeping the crew employed was a really big motivator for them because they had to send over a dozen employees home because they were like, we don't have orders to, pick for, or, you know, we just don't have any business. So I think the CSA program was also a really great way to ensure that our farm workers still had work.
And people on the other side of that coin could still have access to fresh food at a time when people didn't really want to go into grocery store or leave their house at all you know, we were really, really lucky to get some attention and have a lot of business owners reached out to us, offering us space to distribute boxes. And yeah, I think honestly, a lot of the CSA program success was just like word of mouth people telling their friends buying boxes for their friends and it just kind of blossomed from there.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:07:52] I kind of want to now talk a little bit more, you touched on basically convenience and how that is a big factor, obviously safety too. Especially during this time, how many people. You know, have kind of taken. Away from going to the grocery store as much. And maybe they're more accustomed now to, you know, having door to door delivery, but also it's kind of the world we live in is it's focused on convenience.
So between some of the levers, some of the language that we use on this podcast are the four levers. So we talk about price, quality brand and convenience. It sounds like for County Line Harvest, having that strong brand, that focus on quality as well as having those convenient options for your buyers is important too. And pricing your products at the right price. So maybe touch on a few of those and how you've been able to grow as a business by focusing in on some of those key levers.
Angela Brittain: [00:08:43] I have noticed that a lot of people, as you said, a lot of people pay for convenience. So we try to make it as easy as possible by simplifying our pickups as much as we can and our products. We have three sizes of boxes that we offer a baby box that's designed for one person and original boxes for two to three people and then a family box, which can feed like four to five people. I think honestly having just a couple options and letting people know, Hey, this is what we have and a set number of locations that they can pick up and say, we're going to be here from this time to this time. Not doing customizations. I mean, I know that we're in this age of really wanting to customize and offer. Very specific add-ons and I think we could maybe get to that point, but it's sort of about convenience for us in a way too, if that makes sense of, like, we're not trying to kill ourselves to get like all these very custom orders, correct. We just want to make sure that people can get good quality food and maybe learn about a vegetable that they didn't know. And so part of that is, you know, we always send out recipes with our weekly newsletters to say, 'Hey, like here's, what's going to be in your box and here's what you can do with it.'
We started a recipe forum that I feel like people are kind of shy about, but we have a recipe forum so people can upload their, you know, their own recipes. And I would love for us to get to a point where we could offer home delivery ourselves. Our team is too small at this point and the demand is too high that I just don't know that going to happen this spring.
However, we work with retailers. So in addition to offering CSA boxes for sale, and it's kind of a unique CSA program. So we have these few types of boxes that we offer for direct sale, but we also sell to what we call retailers, which are people who buy boxes from us to then resell. One of our retailers easily does like five or 600 boxes a week because they offer home delivery and they have totally like gotten into that niche. And another one of our retailers does, you know, 30 boxes a week home delivery. And then additionally, we sell to small shops, say coffee shops where people can buy a box from the coffee shop and then they're supporting that local business.
So it's also been a way for us to get our products into local stores, but then also help those stores get more foot traffic in because you know, it's been a hard time for everybody this year. So we've really enjoyed being able to collaborate with these local businesses. And lift both of us up by offering veggies when you pick up your coffee or your, you know, we have like a yoga studio that offers our boxes, and they have a little pantry and you know, just in this time of everybody pivoting, just remaining open to being like, yeah, why can't we sell veggies at a yoga shop or a coffee shop or a tea shop, you know? So offering convenience in terms of location has been big because in Los Angeles, you know, a two mile drive can take you 30 minutes sometimes. So we definitely have tried to spread out geographically as much as we can. And I feel like in terms of trying to spread out even more, you know, retaining that good brand image has helped us make new connections. Cause at the beginning of the pandemic, when we started this CSA, a bunch of people that had already known us reached out. And then part of the really awesome experience for me has been being able to make new connections with people. That wouldn't necessarily have jumped on board right away.
And I feel like this has to do with convenience too, is that people aren't always super ready to commit to a 10, 20, 30 week CSA. So we do offer the option to just buy a one-off box and just say, Hey, you want to try it one week?
That's great. You need a box every three weeks. You can just buy a box every three weeks. And kind of offering that flexibility for people I feel like has helped us retain a lot of business. And then in addition, offering a subscription for the diehard fans that are like, 'yeah, let's go baby. I want a box every week.' it's been an interesting look at just seeing how people react. I feel like we're always trying to take in customer feedback and like learn from it and grow from it.
You know like the babiest box that we offer, we only started offering two months ago. Cause a bunch of people were saying, Hey, I love these boxes, but I cannot finish all the veggies in here. You know, to speak on price. It's a really amazing deal because you get 12 different items that we're doing for $25 and working at the farmer's market.
Usually each of those items would be like $3 each. So you're looking at, you know, 36, at least 36, maybe $40 a box for $25. And part of that was this like pandemic pricing. Because again, we just. You know, people are losing jobs. We just wanted to make sure that people could still eat and have access to healthy food.
And additionally, we were offering donation boxes that people could buy and we still offer donation boxes that people can purchase on behalf of other families. And then we distribute those to a number of organizations here in LA that either cook food. For people who are homeless or like in transition or people who just like hand out boxes to families.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:13:42] Yeah. No, I think that's great. I have a few thoughts kind of, running around in my brain right now, but I think first and foremost, talking about a little bit more maybe about the brand, because I know how important it is to have that. That brand recognition, obviously when you expand into two large farms in the North part of California and the Southern part of the state as well, and then now you're introducing these CSA boxes.
And on top of that, you're also focused on giving back to the community, through helping other nonprofits and through those donation boxes. So maybe touch on a little bit more of what is the County Line Harvest brand? Like, what message are you trying to convey as you're going to these farmer's markets as you're, you know, doing these partnership activations or collaborating with, with other businesses, how do you approach that conversation?
Angela Brittain: [00:14:32] You know, since they're farm and up until like a year ago, they didn't have a marketing person. I don't know that County line has like a brand message in the traditional sense, but you know, I'm at the farmer's markets. We just always try and be like, friendly answer questions. Help people learn about food and learn how good vegetables can be. Growing up in America, so many people are living in a food apartheid pretty much and discovering these vegetables maybe for the first time in their lives, in their mid twenties, thirties, forties, you know what I mean, making it out to markets and whatever. Santa Monica, Oakland, wherever we have markets.
And so I feel like a big part of it is when you grow up here and you're used to like grocery store lettuce, or if your grocery store is lucky enough to have organic vegetables, it's usually not as good tasting. I don't think people always realize like how much flavor and how much Like vibrancy, you can get from vegetables and so it's kind of funny, like seeing people come back and being like, I need that chard. That chard is like my medicine, you know what I mean? Or just getting so excited about a new turnip they didn't know about. That is what I feel like brings me a lot of joy. And I feel like that's why people love County Line is because they know that they can try this weird vegetable and they're probably gonna love it, you know?
And then other side of that, we're always happy to just help educate people and be like, 'Hey, here's this lettuce that you didn't know you were going to love.' We do everything we can in caring for the vegetables and the land to make it the tastiest it can be, and also keeping the land as well and packed as we can.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:16:14] And I love how you touched on earlier a bit, how people pay for convenience. They really do, but in addition to that, they'll pay for quality. And so being able to educate your buyers, your consumers of, you know, these products are out there and they may cost a little bit more, but you get that quality with it as well.
And those convenient options, the pickup locations, at the retailers too. So kind of finding ways to meet them where they're at as well. Maybe tell us a little bit more about the, the donation boxes. How did that idea come about? I know, you know, this past year has been kind of a whirlwind. In a lot of aspects for many people. So maybe tell us a little bit more about the story behind their donation boxes and when you start putting those together.
Angela Brittain: [00:16:55] Yeah. So the donation box started, I think pretty much right when the CSA program did, because my boss just wanted to make sure particularly, I think she started it with restaurant workers in mind because those restaurants were our bread and butter, and then they got the wind knocked out of them by COVID. And so just wanting to like, make sure that those people were taken care of. And then we expanded it to go to more kind of diverse like food coalitions throughout LA. So we started making connections with different organizations among them.
The Good Shepherd Center, which is, I think over an Echo Park. It's a church, but they feed recently unhoused families. LA community fridges, they just have fridges full of free food throughout the city. That, you know, somebody will come pick up boxes and distribute the produce throughout. So then somebody can just go get some free food if they want.
LA crop swap, food distribution, isn't their main thing, but they were instrumental over the summer when we had floods and donations coming in and helping us get these out to some organizations kind of in the South LA area. To places that I had never heard of, but this person just had connections to. And then we've also been able to do some really awesome box drives where we fundraise boxes and then we give them to an organization.
So just trying to kind of keep it, like remind people that, you know, everybody deserves access to good healthy food, especially during such a collectively traumatizing time. And so we have just done what we can just to kind of keep that going and like spread the wealth as much as we can and people have been generous enough to purchase donation boxes so that it helps us cover the costs because we donate and are part of our deal with the CSA is, Hey, if you don't come get your box by the end of the day. We'll reschedule your pickup, but we are going to donate your box, make sure the food's not wasted. And so, just, yeah, trying to look for those like really genuine connections and then maintaining the relationship and just giving when and what we can.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:18:56] For sure. I think that's awesome, honestly, to hear that you're in the position to help and also that the community is surrounding you and assisting with that as well, too. So it's kind of on both sides of it and how everyone is, you know, working through things together and finding ways to give back and where it's needed, because it is such a great need all over. So being able to, to have that support from your community, Maybe transitioning a little bit more into some of your, your community partners.
So you work with several nonprofits. You also mentioned, you know, the yoga studio, the coffee shops that you will deliver to. And then from there they'll sell at retail. How has that allowed you to expand your reach? Because I know LA is very much spread out. It is a city that is not confined in space by any means you have the Valley, you have the South Bay, you also have downtown, you have so many different areas to LA and LA County because it's not just Los Angeles. I think some people think of the city, but it's the county. So how do you expand your reach to serve all of your customers through some of your partners?
Angela Brittain: [00:19:59] I think social media has played a big role in that because that's usually where I will reach out to people or people reach out to us and say, Hey, how can we get involved?
Being forward facing on social media, just to I don't know, be as transparent with people so they know what we're about. And then from there, it's easy enough to say, Hey, check out our Instagram. Like we do the CSA program. We really want to partner with you. The benefit of having retailer partnerships for us is that we can't be everywhere all the time. We have what we call "pop-ups" our CSA pop-ups which is where if people purchase directly through us, on our website, they go to a location.
Pick it up and go home. And there we'll have like a staff member with a list and then they're just checking off the list, making sure we have enough boxes and then donating whatever leftover boxes at the end of the day. So the benefit for us of having a retailer partnership or several retailer partnerships is that we can just drop off the boxes and say, thanks so much, see you later.
And then go to the next place because you know, our CSA, we try to leave a window of three to four hours, you know, trying to encourage people like, Hey, don't feel like you have to rush here at the beginning. Like we're leaving this time for you. Come when you can. I feel like that's kind of another aspect of convenience and trying to make the windows times that either overlap with like a lunch hour or, you know, early enough in the morning that it's maybe before work or that you can get there after work.
And then with the retailers, that's great because we can just expand our reach and not having to worry about the logistics of having a person there the entire time. It's just more manageable to have a few pop-ups and then let the retailers kind of take it into their hands of like, okay, we're going to help you distribute these boxes or we're going to take weekly orders and let you know how many people order from our shop and then, you know, go from there.
So the retailer partnerships have been a big, big blessing, I would say. And like I said, you know, those who can offer home delivery are really doing a great job of elevating that convenience experience for customers.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:21:59] For sure. And especially in such a unique environment, because California, the beauty of the weather is on your side. So you can have popups for most of the years, as long as, you know, you have the produce to sell. So how do you engage with the customers, the buyers during those off season months of when you're not, you know, having pop-ups as regularly as you do during the spring, the summer and the fall.
Angela Brittain: [00:22:22] Last year, what we did because, one just to help out fellow farmers and then also to kind of like keep our thing going was we outsourced produce from other farms. So we kind of had like a County line. We called it a summer harvest box and we made it very clear to people like we're not growing all of this stuff. Some of it's coming from Petaluma, but a lot of us were buying from other California Farmers because we can't be the only ones unique in this situation who are hurting. I think the farm is still deciding what the plan is for this summer. So can't totally speak to that yet, but we'll see. And you know, the Petaluma farm, luckily, even though it's way scaled back, it does go all year round. So somebody farming something at any given point like in the County Line farm crew.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:23:04] I'd love to touch just a little bit more, I mean. We touched about convenience. We talked about distribution, quality, price, all of it. But in terms of, for you personally, as you know, working on the farm or working for the farm, how do you save time through the platforms that you use? The different integrations as well? Because I know we're in this digital age where not only convenience for the consumer, but also for the farmer and the farm. So maybe touch on a little bit of the platforms that you use as well as some of the integrations there too. And your experience using both.
Angela Brittain: [00:23:35] Yeah, well, Barn2Door has been a major lifesaver, not just saying that because I'm being interviewed before we were using this technology that I think worked really well, maybe for a wholesale level and distributor level, but taking, you know, 2000 individual orders a week, it could not. I've been really, really pleased with Barn2Door because just having that comparison of an experience, I didn't think it was so hard for technology to not be able to get dates right. Or names or like locations. It was just all these weird, like technological glitches and then Barn2Door my boss sought out Barn2Door specifically because of the CSA subscription technology. And she knew that was something that would be really important. So we use Barn2Door for tracking our retailer sales and our CSA sales. And so it's been really awesome for us to just go in every week and say, how many subscriptions do we have this week?
Okay. Let's factor that into our box building count. And then you know, just being able to easily export a list by location. All of these things that I totally take for granted. Now that looking back, I was like, wow, that was so painfully and unnecessarily difficult on our last platform. And then the MailChimp integration has also been a huge thing for me because I'm coming from a marketing background as I do.
I am so used to being able to be like, Oh my God, look at how much money my newsletter made, or, you know, how many clicks. How many people open this and like are looking at the box list. And so it was really exciting for me. I think I thought I integration happened where you guys were able to sync to the store with MailChimp.
And for me it's so easy. Cause I can just replicate my previous week's newsletter, replace it with relevant content, you know, our weekly box list and three recipes and people love it. Like I. Get like a 50% click to open rate, which is crazy. I guess specifically in terms of the newsletter, keeping it simple has been really good for us because people just, they know they're going to look and find out.
I think the other really key component for us is Instagram. So Instagram has been huge for us in terms of just like publishing weekly box lists, letting people know where we're going to be in when letting people know if our truck breaks down and we're not going to be at market has been a huge communication tool for us.
That I think again, sometimes we take for granted, but you know, this time, last year we had 1400 followers and now we have 12.5 thousand followers. Have not purchased a single ad, have not paid for anything. Like just people telling their friends, tagging us. Us, trying to do as good as we can have a job of like letting people know, Hey, this is what we're farming. Here's the weird fact that you didn't know about this plant. And here's this person who works on our farm, you know, this trying to make it as transparent, and personal as possible. So people know what they're supporting, who we are. Like where their food is being grown.
And that's been really cool for us to receive so much just so much feedback, both positive and occasionally negative through through Instagram, it was very unexpected, but really, really welcomed.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:26:35] That's great. And just to see how people are able to stay connected virtually, you know, in this time, especially when we can't be together, as much as we used to be. So finding a way to stay connected to your buyers. Maybe even if you're not seeing them face to face, you can still interact with them online. So. That's awesome. I guess, to close what would be your final piece of advice for maybe a farm or a farmer who's looking to, you know, pivot to sell direct to consumers. And then on top of that, what's next for County Line Harvest going into the rest of this year, as you look ahead to next year maybe share some updates or some things in the works for you guys as well.
Angela Brittain: [00:27:10] I think it's really, really worth it while to spend the time to make a nice website. I know that sounds so vapid, but that will make all the difference. And I think, you know, trying to be a genuinely good community member by just going out in the world, maybe take your boxes to a store and say, Hey, I want to do a CSA program will you host me? Like, here are the terms just trying to be as upfront and like transparent and honest with people as you can. And then keeping a mailing list is super helpful, consistent communication. I think really plays a big part of it. I really believe that farming is public service and I think that escapes people a lot of time, but letting people know like, Hey, I'm growing this food for you. And like, You can shorten your food supply chain. You can directly support farmers. You can have a closer relationship with your food by buying directly from a farm versus a supermarket.
And additionally, you can open your mind to all of these new foods that you may not have even known you would love by giving a CSA box a chance, getting some things that you wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself. I think there's so many benefits to establishing more of a direct connection to consumers and I think a large part of that is being a member of your community in real time. And so, you know, like I said, going out to your local shops, even if you don't expect them to want to host you, you never know and just being open to possibility.
And then in terms of what's next for County line, To be determined. I think we would love to keep the CSA program running while you know, our business is picking back up with wholesalers and distributors, as restaurants are coming back. Something that is a determining factor in what our future plans will be is water. The amount of water that falls every year and determines how much we are able to grow.
So our farm owner, David is in Thermal right now at the Southern farm, but he'll be going back up to Petaluma soon and assessing the water situation and determining if there will be enough to grow food for the summer. But we will see, we shall see.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:29:11] Yeah, I think for this time is definitely a TBD situation for, for many folks. We're all figuring it out as we go along.
Angela Brittain: [00:29:17] I know on an individual and a macro level, we're all like Eh we'll see how this goes.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:29:23] Definitely unites us in a way too, so.
Angela Brittain: [00:29:25] Yeah, totally.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:29:26] Well, thank you so much, Angela. It was a joy talking to you.
Angela Brittain: [00:29:31] Likewise. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. You always have something to learn and having a community-based podcasts like this seems just so wonderful to me. So thank you so much for having me and I'm happy to share what I've learned.
Allyssa Knutson: [00:29:43] For the folks listening in, thank you so much for tuning in, and if you want more information on County Line Harvest. I highly highly encourage you to visit their website, which is Countylineharvest.com. And then as always, you can go to Barn2Door.com/Resources too. We have some free resources on there. Webinars, our podcast is on there as well as some other best practices and farmer spotlights that you can read on too, but we are delighted to support County Line Harvest, Angela she's one of our farm advisors, one of our recently onboarded farm advisors. So we're looking forward to serving her as well as serving the thousands of farmers across the country in all 50 States that are certified organic farmers, just like Angela and County Line Harvest. So thank you again, and we look forward to hearing from you next week.
Angela Brittain: [00:30:32] Thank you, Alyssa.
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