Farmer Spotlight: Mountain Laurel Jerseys
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. Jesse shared how Mountain Laurel Jerseys joined a growing number of successful Farms today by transitioning to selling direct-to-market, including moving ordering online for weekly raw milk subscriptions.
When Jesse’s father-in-law began selling raw milk in 2011, he became interested in the “revolutionary” way of doing things—grass-feeding and milking once a day. By his father-in-law’s retirement in 2015, Jesse decided to transition the family Farm from selling to Organic Valley into direct-to-market raw milk sales. This quickly became an opportunity to increase their margins, promote the Mountain Laurel Jerseys brand and build up their own customer base.
Jesse shared, “My father-in-law was a raw milk advocate. He had laid so much of the groundwork for the business, handing out samples and talking with people wherever he went. He built relationships and gave us a good customer list to start with.
Almost every week someone tells me, ‘I can’t drink milk from the store, but I can drink your milk.’ It’s those comments, the feedback and the friendships that we form, that makes direct sales worth it. Of course, it also allows a small family Farm like us to support ourselves. I love telling people that as a full time small Farmer, I get to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with my family! That’s one of my favorite things: working with my family to produce products that people appreciate. The community it creates is really special and very satisfying.
We decided to start with Barn2Door in February [2020] to make it easier for customers to order, and easier for us to get every order right. We’ve really appreciated it so far—from taking orders anytime of day to the pick and pack list printouts. When the pandemic concerns started rising, I’d just stocked up on ground beef and my dad was concerned we wouldn’t be able to move the product. With online ordering it became much easier for people to place orders—we sold out much faster than we expected!
We quickly discovered that in lieu of food security concerns, people were keen to buy weekly milk subscriptions. Our customers used to message us to place orders, but now with subscriptions it guarantees them that they’ll receive their ‘regular order’ each week. This saves us and them time, and ensures they get priority if there’s ever a shortage. I know that if I was a customer, I would be a subscriber!
As for our regular marketing, we do weekly email updates each Friday, and my daughter’s in charge of social media–she does a great job of posting a couple times each week. Barn2Door has made sure people can find us. Having a website and webstore makes it so much easier for people looking for us on their phones or on social media to learn about the Farm and actually shop for products.”
When asked what advice he has for other direct-to-market producers, Jess shared, “I think the most critical part doesn’t have to do with the products, but with the family relationships that make the work possible. I love being on the same team as my wife and family. My advice is to take care of your family—I’ve seen the opposite happen. It’s such a blessing to all be pulling in the same direction.”
Barn2Door is humbled to support Jesse, his family, and Mountain Laurel Jerseys as they provide community support and nutritious, delicious milk to their Trout Lake neighbors. You can learn how Barn2Door supports subscriptions, and watch how Barn2Door works in 5 minutes.