Farmer Spotlight: Grass Fed Cattle Co
More with Grass Fed Cattle Co
THE FARMERS
Jared and Valerie Luhman both grew up on Farms in southern Minnesota. They met and became friends at FFA camp in high school, and began dating years later during college at the University of Minnesota. They married in August of 2018, and began their life together on Jared’s family Farm, Dry Creek Red Angus.
In December of 2018, Jared learned about a company selling grass fed beef from Minnesota and Wisconsin Farms to buyers in the Twin Cities. Grass Fed Cattle Company already had loyal customers, brand recognition, a drop-site in Edina, and they sold exclusively in bulk. They wanted to scale down operations and focus on a smaller subset of customers, since the then-owners had small children and shifting priorities.
The couple began serious discussions to purchase Grass Fed Cattle Company in January 2019, and by March the deal was done. As Valerie put it, “We knew it would take a lot of effort to get those same customers for Dry Creek Red Angus. Grass Fed Cattle Company was already set up—we thought ‘this is kind of perfect.’”
Under the Luhmans, Grass Fed Cattle Co sells proteins (pastured beef, pork, and chicken) from 3 Farms throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin to customers in the Twin Cities (2 hours north). They have a pick-up location in Edina, and offer shipping as well as direct home delivery. “We sell to a big range of people!” Valerie went on to describe her customer base, “...really anyone in the Twin Cities who values their food, from early 20 year old’s to people in their mid-70’s and an even split between male and female. We sell to a lot of moms!”
Valerie works on Grass Fed Cattle Co full-time, managing the company and handling marketing and customer communications. “We’ve tried to focus on growth, and we’re certainly seeing the number of customers increase. We still sell in bulk, but now we offer sample boxes at events and sell by the cut—customers appreciate that.”
“A company like Grass Fed Cattle Co needs to be reaching new people, doing marketing and finding other Farms growing like us. We try to make time to go to events to connect with other Farms and learn more about regenerative agriculture. The way we farm is more time intensive, but we make everything work and focus on making the land better than how we received it.”
“We want people to feel connected to the Farm, whether they’re following us on social media or reading a weekly newsletter. That’s the whole purpose behind Grass Fed Cattle Co—to give people an opportunity to buy from a Farm, without the hassle of calling the butcher and driving there to pick it up. We’re trying to make it convenient, and delivery makes it that much easier.”
HOW BARN2DOOR HELPED
“We started doing direct delivery not long after our new and improved Barn2Door website went live on January 1st. We were shipping before, but half the requests were in the Twin Cities anyway—we started delivering those because it saved on a lot of cost and time. It was an option the customers all really liked. Kevin [our Barn2Door Onboarding Manager] was super helpful with adding that option and setting it up. It was easy to add and our customers needed that direct delivery option. ”
“You guys reached out to us at the perfect time. We were frustrated that we were being charged so much for additional options, and didn’t feel like we were getting very good customer service. It was pretty overwhelming working on the existing website for Grass Fed Cattle Co. It took at least 30 minutes on the phone with customer service whenever we had a question—and I had a lot of questions!”
“Barn2Door made it much easier to have more pickup, delivery and shipping options. Before, not only did we get charged more, but it was not super convenient for the customers. The checkout process was not simple. That’s one thing that sold us on Barn2Door—it was easier for our customers. We want to make sure that when a customer goes to our site, especially if they’ve never bought from a Farm before, that it’s easy.”
“We liked the family feel of Barn2Door, the fact that you focus on Farmers specifically. It was really obvious that if we had questions, or had trouble, that you’d be there to help us. During the onboarding process, we’d get off a call and I’d remember the questions I had. He [Kevin] was great about following up and emailing us answers. We had a lot of complicated things we wanted to set up and do, and everybody involved was super helpful.”
“My two favorite features are the Chat Support and the Pick and Pack list. I love that customers go through the shopping process without me answering technical questions. Instead, I get to answer questions about the product and the Farm—the conversations I want to be having. It’s taken a lot of that day-to-day work off my plate and gave me more time to do consistent marketing. As a growing company, we need to do that proactively.”
CONCLUSION
Jared and Valerie have big plans for Grass Fed Cattle Co, adding products and planning a customer appreciation day this coming summer. We’re proud to support Farms like Grass Fed Cattle Co, that take care of their land and their customers, with quality service and quality products.
If you’re interested in Barn2Door’s services for your own Farm, you can learn how it works with this short video.