Farmer Spotlight: Stokesberry Sustainable Farm

How one Washington farm is providing chicken and eggs to customers cooped up at home. 

Jerry and Janelle Stokesberry have been growing food together since the 70’s. “We were just kids. We both did a lot of vegetable gardening growing up, so we decided to change it up and raise fruit and meat. In 2013 we decided to go all-in on our dream, farming full time and providing food to other people.” 

Janelle spoke with us about Stokesberry Sustainable Farm and the impacts of the current pandemic challenges [for their Farm]. “We’ve gained some perspective with age; we look at this as just another hiccup along the way — we see historic events all the time. You just keep going on, you just keep doing what you can.” For the Stokesberrys, that means keep growing and selling pastured poultry and eggs. 

When they decided to begin their direct-to-market business in 2013, Jerry asked some local restaurant owners what products they’d be interested in. They started raising pastured chickens, then added eggs and briefly expanded into pork and beef; today they focus specifically on pastured chicken and eggs, selling to a number of restaurants in Seattle and attending farmers markets. 

When asked what she loved about farming, Janelle jumped right in. “The land is so important to me,” she shared. “Bottom line, if you don’t have land you don’t live. We take care of this land so we can provide food for people who live in apartments in Seattle. The animals are always wacky and fun — and I love the challenge of mother nature. We have a lot of predators, so we learn what we can prevent, and what we let happen. We’re constantly focused on the birds’ health.”

We often ask Farmers about their challenges. Janelle put it frankly: “the biggest challenge has been staying in business, and making sure we are selling out, with a profit margin that will  sustain our business. Direct sales are our best opportunity to maximize our margins. When we first started at the farmers markets, we’d have customers come up and say ‘you’re not charging enough!’ It genuinely came from a place of caring — they knew if we weren’t selling enough and making enough, we’d disappear like other Farms. Our customers are invested in our success and that makes it all worth it.”

The first week the farmers markets closed down, Jerry and Janelle pulled up as if it were any other market day, and sold food out of the back of the truck. Janelle said, “that same weekend I checked out a couple of online options to manage orders, but pretty immediately knew ‘this is the one.’ I called, got signed up and we connected with our Barn2Door Onboarding Manager (Alessandro) — he is awesome. It was fortuitous that we were paired with Alessandro; we knew him when he was a sous chef at a Seattle-based Farm to Table restaurant before he joined Barn2Door. I had always admired his ethics and knowing he was at Barn2Door made me even more confident of our decision to sign up.

He is helping us in a whole new, super important way! Now instead of being the chef that buys our food, he (and the software) is helping us manage and run our entire business. He makes us feel important, and is empathetic to the struggles small Farms have. I told Alessandro, ‘we’re going to do direct home delivery. We have to have a plan, a way to get our food to people.’ Some of our customers believe our food is what keeps them healthy. As much as I didn’t want to drive around Seattle, it was important to me to continue selling to them.

So, we got started with Barn2Door on Monday and were set up by Tuesday. Our first delivery was the following Sunday — less than a week from being set up. I learned I couldn’t rush typing in the address, but other than that it all went smoothly. People were so thankful I was delivering that I even got tips. I’d refuse, saying ‘No really, you paid for this’ but people insisted. For years I’ve been asked to deliver, but we’d always said no. Now we are re-thinking that strategy. 

I told Alessandro, ‘The system is working great! I am looking forward to when things are calmer, and I see how in the long run [using Barn2Door] will make my life easier. Thanks so much for doing this so quickly, you are amazing!’ 

We also got set up with a couple storefronts, brick and mortar locations that are carrying our eggs. They’re the stores that get to stay open — a bakery, a butcher shop. The bakery started buying our eggs to bake with, until I suggested they sell our eggs directly to their customers. He just ordered 60 dozen eggs to sell, and they’re moving so fast. It’s easy, we just invoice them right out of Barn2Door.

The piece that’s going to be really helpful is pre-selling products, so everything’s already paid for and customers can walk up and be handed their order. It will cut down on unnecessary contact. 

Easy access to my customers is #1 for me. I love that I can email them all at once through my dashboard on Barn2Door, without thinking about bcc or only sending 20 at a time to make sure they go through. I don’t have the time to juggle so many emails, let alone answer [individual] questions about ‘how much’ or ‘how many.’ Now instead I can send them a link to my online store so they can find out what I have, when we deliver and exact quantities. I notice they’re ordering more and calling me less!

So many of our customers are used to ordering online, partly because they’re Seattleites. I can accommodate their busy lives; they can order, pick up their chicken, say ‘hi’ and get going. For their fast-paced life, that’s what they need. For customers at the market there is more time to chat; I know when they’re going on vacation, and when new babies are born. It’s important to stay connected, especially right now. I’m learning I can do that and my customers are happy. I make sure people can still call me. So far, no one’s abused that. They place orders online unless they want something special, or want to catch up.

Before the pandemic, I already knew I needed a solution for online sales and marketing. I’m not good at it, it’s not why I signed up for farming! I was pleased that the Barn2Door system is self-explanatory — I’m not a techy person. I could go and figure it out, and Alessandro was a huge help. It’s up and running, and I’ll continue perfecting it!

I know that we cannot give our food away and stay in business. We owe it to our loyal customers; they will do anything to make sure we keep providing quality food. I’ve had people offer to donate or give money to make sure we stay in business. I told them, ‘this is time for me to pay you guys back. We may break even or lose a little bit, but I’ll make sure we stay open.’”

We feel fortunate at Barn2Door to have the software and team to support Janelle, Jerry, and Stokesberry Sustainable Farm provide the food their local (and loyal!) customers need and want. If you are a Farmer making adjustments in sales and marketing during these challenging times, please check out free coronavirus-related resources for Farms. If you’re curious about Barn2Door’s services might help, you can watch this short video to learn how it works.

To Stokesberry and all the amazing Farmers out there serving your local communities in creative ways during this epidemic: Thank you for all you are doing!