American consumers love local food, but they enjoy convenience more. Efficiencies realized by large corporations (i.e., Amazon, Target) have created a blueprint for Farmers to implement efficient and profitable delivery services. Delivery can be one of the most lucrative activities for your Farm business as it satisfies Buyers’ expectations of convenience, drives higher monthly orders, and is one of the main contributors to Farms selling out more often.

Located in Ely, Iowa, Dan and Debbie’s Creamery is an extension of their family-owned Dairy Farm. The Creamery takes milk from the Farm and turns it into high-quality dairy products, selling it directly to consumers through their online and retail stores.

As consumers spend an increasing amount of time online, your Buyers’ expectations are being conditioned by billion-dollar brands. In fact, 93% of American adults purchased from Amazon in 2020. They have made it easier than ever to buy online, and customers no longer want to waste time purchasing the same products they know they will need next month.

Back in Spring 2020 we sat down with Grant Sheeder of Sheeder Cloverleaf Dairy to share his story of transitioning to direct to consumer sales paired with direct delivery. He found great success with marketing his door-to-door milk delivery service on social media and has continued to grow his operations through 2020. We recently caught up with Grant to see how his dairy business has evolved after moving online with Barn2Door.

In the face of uncertainty due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Barn2Door has witnessed many Farms enjoy success as they bring their products direct-to-market, own their own customer relationships and make more revenue selling to local buyers. We know that 9 out of 10 American consumers want to buy local food, but 99% aren’t going to farmers markets. Furthermore, coronavirus cases have resulted in severe restrictions, causing schools, restaurants, bars and markets to close and open unpredictably and variably across the country.

In 1996, Grant Sheeder’s father left his salaried job with benefits to start milking cows. Despite being called crazy, the dairy grew and in 2005 Grant’s mother joined her husband full time on the Farm. In 2006, the couple began processing their own milk, and started selling grass-based dairy products through local stores. Grant joined the successful family business. Recently, in part due to the pandemic, Grant and his parents decided to test interest in direct home delivery, and experienced a surge in growth and positive customer feedback. Read about their shift to door-to-door delivery.

Jesse’s great-grandfather immigrated to America in 1883 at age 11; he was the second settler to the Trout Lake, WA, region. An early homesteader and Farmer, his great grandfather raised dairy cows and crafted butter. Today, Jesse with his wife (also from an agricultural family), children and parents continue the family farming tradition and sell raw milk, beef and eggs to their local community.