Growing a Passion for Farming - Sasquatch Family Farms
Overview
When Shauna and her family bought their Farm in 2023, they had a growing passion to serve their local community with healthy, farm-fresh food. However, as challenges arose, Sasquatch Family Farms realized the importance of leveraging community resources and software to streamline their sales and fulfillments.
Listen to Sasquatch Family Farms’ story:
Become a First Generation Farmer
Shauna was an elementary school principal with 20 years of experience in the education system when she ended up needing surgery. Afterwards, she was unable to go back to work, based on the rest and recovery she required. In an effort to help Shauna during the healing process and get her out of the house, her kids took her to a local U-Pick blueberry Farm that was for sale.
Shauna fell in love with the Farm, and discussed the opportunity to purchase it with her husband. The family decided to proceed, and bought 76 acres in August of 2023. After meeting another Farm that was doing pork, Shauna grew a passion for the idea of raising pigs. By September, they bought 15 feeder pigs and began buying one bred sow a month.
Overcoming Hardship on the Farm
Sustainability is important to the values of Sasquatch Family Farms. Their son has food allergies, so they are committed to offering organic food that is healthy and nutritious. Their Farm products are Animal Welfare and USDA-certified, which can make it difficult to find processors that can accommodate those requirements.
One hardship the Farm had to overcome was cancelled processing dates. After having 5 hogs ready their first year, their processing date was cancelled, leaving them without any avenues to sell their products and cover their Farm costs. With 15 feeders on the ground, money was tight. When hardships hit, Sasquatch Family Farms relied on their family, community and other Farmers to overcome adversity.
Finding Support in the Local Community
Sasquatch Family Farms signed on with Barn2Door in October of 2023, and quickly dove into all the available resources. The Barn2Door “Connect” program enabled Shauna to speak directly with other Barn2Door Farmers who had built successful Farm businesses across the country. During the virtual “Connect” sessions, she learned tips such as borrowing equipment, instead of spending a bunch of money on their own, and good ideas for packaging and pricing their products. Shauna was able to meet and find support and encouragement from several Farmers in the Barn2Door community.
Other local Farms supported them by providing baby feeder pigs during the start of their operation. Shauna was advised to secure processing dates well advance, leading to her making reservations before they even had a Farm or animals ready to process! When a processing date was cancelled, another Farm stepped up and invited them to use their own processing facility.
The butcher at this local processing facility helped Sasquatch Family Farms find cuts that were attractive for restaurants and retail Buyers. Shauna learned that it’s important to find domain experts to help you in areas where you lack knowledge and experience. They partnered with a local food hub to expand their distribution to schools and restaurants, fueling their growth and markets. As the Farm continues to evolve, they have discovered local partnerships are crucial to accessing more customers and expanding their Farm business.
Shauna’s goal is for the Farm to be hyper local, meaning each step of their operations, from harvest to processing to fulfillment, happens within their local community. Sasquatch Family Farms relies on local volunteers to help them with various tasks, from packing orders to running deliveries. Their customers better connect with their Farm as they see first-hand the care and attention to grow and harvest their products.
Attracting Customers with Convenience
Using Barn2Door, Sasquatch Family Farms is able to collect upfront deposits for their products prior to fulfillment, which helps increase cash flow and offset their costs, such as struggling to cover a feed bill. Online orders provide consistent income, and allow them to capture purchases anytime (overnight), whenever it is most convenient for local Buyers.
Using the Barn2Door “Pick and Pack” lists has helped streamline the fulfillment process. Deliveries allow for the Farm to plan out their fulfillment schedule, meet their Buyers in person and offer an added convenience (for a fee that customers are willing to pay).
Bundle Boxes and Subscriptions allow Sasquatch Family Farms to move more product in one transaction. At the encouragement of the Barn2Door Success team, the Farm debuted Farmer’s Choice and Breakfast Bundle Boxes - all paired with their choice of products to make fulfillment easier and move more products. These Bundle Boxes have become their most popular items in the store. Farmer’s Choice helps with decision fatigue with Buyers and ensures that Shauna isn’t stuck with certain cuts. As an added bonus, Sasquatch Family Farms will add in a high-demand product as a ‘thank you’ to those who sign up for a Subscription (e.g. Bacon with every Subscription), building loyalty for their local Buyers.
Conclusion
Shauna and Sasquatch Family Farms (WA) pushed through some adversity at the start of their Farming experience, but have been fortunate to build a thriving business. With the software and services offered by Barn2Door, they streamlined their ordering and fulfillment processes, capitalized on the advice of Farming experts to reduce their costs, and the Farm has built a stable foundation for their ongoing operations. Even as hardships strike, Sasquatch Family Farms has kept their passion for farming through the support of those around them.
Barn2Door offers software for Independent Farmers to create and promote their brand, sell online and in-person, and save time managing their business. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.