Webinar Recap: ACRES + Barn2Door Innovator Series: This Farm is Thinking Outside the Box and Selling Out
At Barn2Door, we’re humbled to serve 1000’s of Farms across America, including some of the most innovative and successful sustainable Farms. In light of the coronavirus impacts, we partnered with ACRES to present the “National Farm Innovator” webinar series, to share insights from Farmers who are innovating new business tactics to serve their local customers.
We kicked off the series with Harleston Towles, who runs The Twenty Bag—a Farmer’s choice, weekly opt-in CSA in South Carolina. If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the full recording here (30-mins) or read on for the top 3 takeaways (5-mins).
1. Buyers are Creatures of Convenience
In his previous experience working on larger production Farms, Harleston witnessed first-hand the pros and cons of choice CSA programs and observed buyer behavior. He reflected that consumers are “creatures of convenience”. Harleston noted that consumers are generally unwilling to go out of their way, despite increasing demand for local, nutritious food. After starting his own Farm, aptly named “Twenty Bag”, he solved this problem by offering a hybrid-CSA model for $20 that includes 4-6 produce items each week, announced via photo on web, social and email and purchased online in advance. Customers purchase through any digital channel, then pick up at one of several convenient locations throughout the area. There is no choice and no commitment. And, his demand has spiked through the pandemic. Harleston was previously selling 75 ‘Twenty Bags’ each week and serving 5 restaurants before the pandemic; now, he’s doing 250 bags each week (selling out of all his products) and covering his lost wholesale business.
2. Win with Simple Pricing and Packaging
Harleston’s Twenty Bag business model makes things easier for the buyer and helps his Farm operations team by dramatically reducing the time and expense of filling customized orders each week. In contrast to a choice CSA model that requires customers to submit their preferences, then picking and packing customized orders individually, Harleston can simply tell his team “We need 250 Twenty Bags,” which is put together assembly-line style. He also shared that he initially began by writing customers’ names on the brown-paper bags, but Harleston soon stopped after realizing that it only complicated the process. Simple pricing and packaging is easier for the Farmer and buyers alike - increasing his Farm’s profit margins considerably. Read this blog: 7 Traits of Successful Direct-to-Market Farmers.
3. Amass Emails Beyond Your Supply
Harleston’s model works especially well because he’s consistently collected emails, amassing a customer list that far exceeds his selling capacity. His email list has ballooned from 600, to more than 1200+ over the past 2 months. Harleston sells out in just 3 hours each week - compelled by a “fear of missing out” (FOMO). Long term, it means he can scale production to meet demand, and communicate consistently with his buyers to drive regular ordering from a more diverse customer base. Read this blog: 5 Promos to drive FOMO.
Advice to Other Farmers
To producers interested in getting started with a CSA-hybrid, Harleston recommended beginning small and keeping it simple. Look for opportunities to make growing and selling food more convenient for both the buyer and the producer. And, create demand for your products beyond your available supply.
We’re thrilled to support innovative producers like Harleston, and eager to share more insights that are helping Farms succeed.
Read more Farm Spotlights to learn how other Farmers are succeeding with innovative business models, and convenient online ordering to increase sales, save time and access more local customers.
Watch how Barn2Door works in 5:40 if you are curious to learn how your Farm can succeed online too.