by For many people, the journey their food makes before it lands on their plate is a mystery. They simply head to the grocery store, purchase the first package of meat or produce they see, and don’t think twice about where these products came from or how they were farmed.
But a growing group of food lovers is becoming more interested in how their food is produced, packaged, and delivered. They want to learn about the people and practices that put food on their tables, and instead of shopping at the local big box grocery store, they want to buy directly from family farms.
This is called the farm to table movement — and it’s a fantastic opportunity for your farm. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at this movement and answer the big question on your mind: how does farm to table work?
What Is Farm to Table?
The goal of the farm to table movement is to connect food producers with food consumers. In other words, it gives farmers the chance to sell directly to consumers, rather than relying on a distributor like a grocery store.
A farm to table approach can boost your sales and help you build a solid base of loyal customers. It also lets you educate your community members about why it’s important to support local farmers committed to regenerative practices.
The rise of e-commerce has made the farm to table model even more popular, expanding your potential reach beyond your neighborhood and letting you sell your products to shoppers across the country.
But how do you do it? Let’s explore three simple steps to launch your farm to table business.
1. Decide What To Sell
Are your neighbors constantly raving about your farm’s pork chops? Is your farmers market booth always buzzing with shoppers excited to buy steaks? Is your homemade sausage a personal point of pride?
These are all clues that can help you decide what to focus on as you craft your farm to table approach.
While you can (and should) sell a variety of products, identifying your top offerings will help you set the right priorities as you start your direct farm sales journey.
Audit Your Inventory
Effective inventory management is a critical ingredient for farm to table success. If you don’t know what you have, how can you make a solid plan to sell it?
Start by taking stock of what you have. As a farmer, you know how much yields can vary and that you won’t always have the same amount of meat or produce on hand.
That’s why it’s important to keep a close eye on your stock levels. We recommend investing in farm inventory management software that tracks your inventory in real time.
With the right approach, this tool can help you prevent inventory disasters like overselling and waste.
Adopt a Weight-Based Approach
Weight-based sales are another essential concept for farm to table success.
Farmers have traditionally sold to customers who want to buy in bulk, but a successful farm to table approach means selling to a wider range of shoppers — including those who don’t have the space or budget to buy a quarter or half of beef.
By offering your products in custom amounts, you can make the most of your inventory and give all your shoppers the opportunity to enjoy your farm-fresh products.
Related Read: Selling Food by Weight: 5 Things You Need To Know
2. Determine How To Sell It
You’ve taken charge of your farm’s products, now it’s time to figure out how to get them onto customers’ plates.
While farmers markets and farm shops are still great ways to connect with your shoppers in person, the future of the farm to table movement is online. Here’s how to embrace the power of e-commerce to build a website for your farm and manage online sales.
Build a Farm to Table Website
Think of your farm’s website as a farmers market stall that anyone can visit from the comfort of home. It should help customers get to know you, teach them about your farming practices, and let them browse your offerings.
And most importantly, it should make it simple to place an order and purchase products from your farm.
The easiest way to create a farm to table website is to invest in farm e-commerce software with a drag-and-drop website builder. This tool lets you customize your site and add products for sale.
Plan Your Order Management Strategy
Now that your customers can place orders online, you need a strategy for managing them.
Ideally, you’ll rely on farm e-commerce software to track each order from the moment it’s placed to the day it arrives on your customer’s doorstep. We recommend choosing one that lets you offer flexible options, including everything from local pickup to nationwide shipping.
Related Read: How To Manage Farm-to-Fork Delivery: 4 Steps
Research Packing and Shipping Best Practices
The journey from your farm to your customers’ homes will be fraught with bumps, temperature fluctuations, and rough handling, so it’s crucial to use best practices when packing and shipping them.
You’ll need sturdy boxes, reliable insulation, and thorough labels to keep orders organized and fresh and your customers satisfied.
3. Spread the Word
You’re ready to start selling; now all you need to do is grow your customer base.
When it comes to farm to table marketing, you should have two goals. The first is attracting new customers. Offer enticing promotions, leverage social media, and even pay for radio, magazine, and digital ads.
Your second goal should be to keep these customers engaged and generate repeat business. One of the best ways to do this is to launch a loyalty program that gives shoppers incentives to choose your farm every time they’re in the mood for farm-fresh groceries.
Another unique way to boost repeat sales and ensure a steady flow of revenue is to offer a subscription service that allows customers to sign up for recurring orders of their favorite products from your farm.
Your farm e-commerce software should help with your marketing strategy, so look for one that includes email marketing integration, a built-in loyalty program, and flexible subscription options.
Make Farm to Table Sales
Let’s recap. How does farm to table work?
First, you need to take charge of your inventory. Then, you need to make a plan to manage and fulfill orders. Finally, you need to build your relationship with customers.
It’s that simple! And you only need one tool to manage your farm to table operations: powerful farm e-commerce software like GrazeCart.
GrazeCart includes robust inventory management features, an easy-to-use website builder, flexible order fulfillment options, and sales-boosting tools to help your farm to table business grow and thrive.
See for yourself by launching your free, two-week trial of GrazeCart today.