From Two Cows to an Online Store
Hello Everyone,
We hope your Thanksgiving was full of good food, good family, and good times. All of the Zeiter kids made it back to Our Lady’s Ranch and everyone pitched in for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner — “Many hands make the work light.”
With seven kids gathered together again it brought up old memories of developing the Ranch and growing our farming business, Family Friendly Farms. The community that has grown here to sustain the land and the business is truly the most enjoyable part of homesteading and farming. But we also want to share part of our business story because we have so many people ask “How do you get started?” and “How do you grow?” We have a specific post for that HERE, but our growth is truly highlighted by slowly adapting to the new opportunity’s that arise.
The Early Years — Family and Friends
When first starting Family Friendly Farms, I didn’t really plan on an actual business, but simply creating some outdoor activities for the kids. We had purchased Our Lady’s Ranch, a 160 acre parcel of land in Grass Valley, California, with lots of sunshine, grass, and irrigation water, and I was determined to use that land for for the glory of God and the Salvation of Souls. I wanted Daily Mass, retreats, and a community to support each other but God kept saying “Wait.” So in order to begin using the land for something productive, I bought two cows, and over the next several years those two cows became four, eight, and sixteen (I was still practicing Architecture). When it was time to start harvesting the meat from this little herd, I simply asked around to family and friends, church acquaintances, and basically any one I knew. A few folks wanted to buy a side of beef, which was the old program back then. We sold a few of those that first year in 2008, but only a few because most people aren’t equipped to receive 200 lbs of beef and, even if they did buy that bulk order they didn’t know what to do with all those strange cuts.
Taking those comments from our friends that first year, I revised our sales program to include smaller packages of beef, like a 50 lb pack and a 100 lb pack. I also custom packed those for people, so they could get the cuts they knew how to cook. This sales program is normal for many companies now, but back then it was the first of its kind. Most farmers/ranchers were not only selling exclusively sides or quarters, but they would confuse the buyers by making them pay the butcher directly when even the butcher didn’t know how much it would cost because every cow is a different size. That old program seemed ridiculous to me, so I basically rewrote the script so that people could know what they were buying. I stated the specific amount of meat with the specific cuts with a specific price so everyone knew what they were getting. We still use this same system today so that our customers can purchase smaller quantities while still receiving a “bulk discount.” In addition they get to know up front what cuts are included, with the option for substitutions so they get exactly what they want.
One of the local ranchers that I used to consult, who was still selling beef under the old program, told me I was crazy for trying to sell small packs and individual cuts. He warned me that the last guy he knew who tried it went “belly-up” after only three months because he had too many left-over cuts that he couldn’t sell. But I just smiled and said, “What do I care, I’ve got seven kids to feed!” But actually, he was a little right so we planned for success…
The Next Step – Farmers Markets
During the first two years of those little sales, most of our friends who tried our all-natural grass-fed meat were very encouraging. “This is amazing,” “I’ve never had anything so good!” “This hamburger tastes like steak – It never made it to the kitchen… we just ate it off the grill.” Then a few friends told us about farmers markets and that we just had to get our products in there. Well, it’s strange that even then, only about fifteen years ago, I had never been to a farmers market. So I loaded up the kids and went for a good ol’ fashioned “look-see.” As it turned out, it was a really nice outdoor market in Grass Valley and they didn’t have anyone there selling beef. So we put together the paperwork right there on the spot and got an exclusive sales agreement with the market manager.
Two weeks later, four of the kids and I showed up to that first farmers market with some ice chests full of meat, a few tables, a pop-up canopy, and guess what else… a barbecue! I still laugh about that first year at the market because it almost felt like cheating to me… Those nice folks were smelling that barbecue smoke every Saturday and asking all the other vendors where it was coming from. They literally lined up to taste our samples, every time leaving with a smile and some new cut to take home with them. Even as little as twelve years ago, most people hadn’t yet tried authentic grass-fed beef, and it was so fun for me to see those heavenly expressions on their faces as they enjoyed their first bite. Whenever we started piling up on a certain cut, that’s what we put on the barbecue for samples that week, which instantly solved the problem because we would usually sell out of that cut by noon!
What was even more incredible then sharing truly good food with good people was watching my kids transform before my eyes. Those many years of farmers markets were hard work, but the way it brought the kid’s out of their shells was truly astounding. My oldest daughter (Ty) went from barely wanting to talk to people to comfortably interacting with anyone in any situation. And years later, my youngest daughter (Nina) began selling pears from our trees while still practically a toddler. We still have customers from those farmers market days that remember the kids when they were small and it’s been over ten years! We’ve learned that good food brings people together in wonderful ways.
After a few years, we started a food booth at the market and sold cooked hamburgers and other outdoor meat delights. It was a big hit and all the kids took turns learning how to cook and sell and visit with all kinds of people. Some well-meaning friends would tell me that home-schooling was such a problem for socializing kids… until they greeted one of mine and received a firm handshake with a look in the eyes, while responding to any question they dared to toss out there. One friend actually came to me with eyes so big that I thought he saw a rattlesnake. When I asked him what was wrong, he confessed that he would never question homeschooling again. Then he said that what shocked him was his last half hour of conversation with my seven year old. Apparently, the little whippersnapper was teaching him about farming and selling meat ☺
The Local Delivery Host Locations
By the fourth year of selling at our local farmers market, we had started raising and selling not only beef, but pork, lamb, and chicken as well. We were making quite a ruckus on the local scene, and even though I wasn’t looking to expand, new places invited us in. There were a few regular customers who lived in the Bay Area and visited Grass Valley on the weekends. So they naturally asked us if they could buy our meat in the winter when the market was closed. One person even wanted a large beef pack and asked me to deliver it to him in San Francisco. It was just not a big enough order to justify the long delivery trip, so I asked him to persuade a few friends to also buy some meat, and he could have a little “Tupperware Party” at his house on the day of delivery. He politely agreed and sure enough, we sold about seven more beef packs through his referrals.
The day of delivery at his house in the “Big City” turned out to be a wonderful event. Everyone was super interested in our farming practices along with stories about the kids. Then in the Q and A time we talked a lot about cooking and everyone got really excited to share all the recipes and ideas with their family and friends. And that’s how our Bay Area local delivery “Host Locations” were formed. With all those first referrals who told their family and friends, we received enough orders to return the next month, and then the next. Within a year, we had expanded to over fifteen host locations that we developed a delivery route for each month. That system worked for many years, until it was time for a weekly delivery program that began with our new online store.
Our Online Store and Home Delivery
As the business grew my time with my family began to shrink more and more as I stayed up later and later to keep up with the demand of emails and phone calls. It quickly became clear that something had to give beyond just my sleeping time, I had originally started this business for my kids and now I felt like I never saw them! So, with some help from a good friend, the business evolved yet again and we designed and built a new web site that included an online store. Now we could post our pricing right on the website and customers could purchase directly online without me having to make each and every sale through an email or phone call or both.
This new shopping experience was readily accepted by our customers who found it informative and convenient. But this convenience meant the orders were coming in faster and faster and we had no efficient way to get all this meat to our customers. I really liked the pickup/host program we had, but many customers started asking about home delivery and we couldn’t do both. We were also limited to a once a month system that really needed to be once a week in order to properly service our customers.
And so the farming business made another leap forward with a big announcement to our expanding customer base. NEW WEEKLY HOME DELIVERIES, every Tuesday of every week! We started with a “Free Home Delivery” special that first week to help everyone get used to our new program and sure enough, they did. Most people loved the convenience of not only a home delivery, but the weekly opportunity as well. This new system was still busy, but it freed up a little bit of my time to devote to family and prayer again. It was also another incredible opportunity for further homeschooling for the kids as we all learned how to run this new program for the business.
Even More Growth
Somewhere along the line of that progress, we had a few online organic-food distributors ask us to provide meat to their growing audiences. We worked out some wholesale pricing for them and now we enjoy their ability to distribute our healthy meats in a way that is convenient for their customers, who are now our customers too.
Ever since building our first website, we have received numerous inquiries from people hoping to find a reliable source of healthy meat that could be shipped to their area. Frequent requests have originated from people living in the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern California. Several years ago, in an effort to finally service these good people, we started working with a small shipping company (GLS) who gave us an overnight delivery service at a cost that our customers could afford.
Our Future Plans
Well, I’m no longer trying to keep the business small because it’s now clear that the more healthy meat that we raise and deliver equals the more healthy people we can service and help. The kids are all grown now and having babies of their own, truly turning our farming business into a generational way of life. Our future plans are to build and grow and continue to service healthy meat needs with the right kinds of products that are delivered in the most convenient way possible. The farm has expanded to over 250 acres, while the personnel has expanded to reach beyond our immediate family, and the facilities are expanding to soon have our own butcher shop right here on the Ranch.
Despite all of the change, growth, and learning over the past two decades, I’ve never lost that desire to use Our Lady’s Ranch for the glory of God and the salvation of Souls. We continue to host farm tours and small homesteading retreats, and we plan to continue the ministry of healthy love through healthy food. For a long time it was “Not Yet,” but now it’s become “Go For It!” So with renewed enthusiasm and experience, Karen and I (along with the Zeiter kids) are using Family Friendly Farms to help create a sustainable, agrarian, Catholic homestead community here at Our Lady’s Ranch.
Wishing you all health and happiness through the upcoming Christmas season ☺
Blessings and Peace to you,
Phil Zeiter
Our Lady’s Ranch
