Food Chain Wars

John Arbuckle and his wife Holly have landed their pork snack sticks in over 600 retail stores nationwide! Their key accounts include the likes of Sprouts Market , Natural Grocers , HEB , and others. Securing this kind of shelf space is a tough uphill battle... It's low-margin, hyper-competitive, and it feels like the buyer commands all the negotiating power. That's why we were thrilled when John...

An "online farmers market" that connects consumers & farmers within a shoppable platform is a business model many have attempted, but few have accomplished.  Nick Carter and the team at Market Wagon are one of the few! They've hit the INC 5000 list twice during their quick expansion to serve 30+ markets across the Midwest & East Coast. Marketing, tech, and logistics are typically the most difficul...

Ryan MacKay is the owner of Lilac Hedge Farms. Their primary sales outlet is DTC eCommerce, but they also operate a 7-figure agri-tourism enterprise consisting of: A cozy farm store & ice cream bar. A full-service kitchen & stage for live music. Multiple Air BNB rentals. A giant inflatable jump pad for the kids. And of course, they host farm tours & all kinds of community events. While this is a l...

Cody Hopkins is the CEO and founding farmer of GrassRoots Co-Op, and has led the company to become one of the more successful D2C farm-to-fork brands sourcing regenerative products from farms in the US. Here's where we went with the interview: Cody's journey from teaching to 1st gen farming. Their early funding journey for launching the co-op. The pros/cons of the co-op business model. Their trans...

In this episode, Blaine and Brooks share their experience acquiring new customers by advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google. With their brand Seven Sons, the brothers are acquiring hundreds of new customers every week, with paid advertising being the key strategy to produce those results. But will their strategy work for you? The key is having the right business model in place before yo...

In this episode, you'll hear us (Blaine and Brooks) break down their top strategies for high leverage ways to increase your product margin. We're talking about solutions you can implement once, and retain more 💰 with every order you receive, or every animal you process. Regardless of how long you've been in direct marketing, I'm confident there's a new idea in this episode that you can take actio...

A full episode to break down the acquisition announcement of GrazeCart by specialty retail point-of-sale provider, POS Nation.  On this episode Blaine and I unpack common questions like: Why did we decide to sell GrazeCart? Who is POS Nation? (you'll hear from their team) What will our involvement be going forward? What did we learn through this process? and what we're most excited about for Graze...

Team meetings are tough to get right... Whether you work with a few family members or a full-blown team, you've probably left meetings feeling more confused and discouraged than you came in. Some of us get so fed up that we attempt to steer the organization without meetings altogether. After all, between producing livestock and packing orders, who really has time for formal meetings anyway? Howeve...

According to a few recent interviews from CEO Mike Salguero, ButcherBox has scaled beyond $600m in revenue.  In this episode, Blaine and I share our reactions to ButcherBox's remarkable growth, a breakdown of the strategies they leveraged, as well as what their market position means for the everyday farm-to-fork producer.  

There's a lot of buzz floating around about AI and how it's disrupting countless industries. But are there actually any practical applications to use to help run a farm-to-fork business? We answer that question in today's episode by showcasing some of the ways we're using AI to save time while producing better results!

Increasing your AOV (avg. order value) not only increases revnue and margin, but it also reduces your operational headaches... Why? Because every order you receive comes with a similar level of overhead and risk. Basically as your order count increases, so increases: customer complaints packing mistakes no-shows & restocking failed deliveries declined payments bad checks ... Shall I go on? This si...

It's something rarely talked about, but your brand name and logo does have an impact on the future of your business. Fun fact, Steve Jobs paid the renown designer Paul Rand, $100k to create the logo for NeXT, Inc.  Now, I'm not saying you need to drop a large % of your startup capital on your logo, especially in the freelance-art world we live in today. However, it is important that you get the ba...

A common killer of healthy businesses is poor cash flow. This is like a predator that always strikes when you're not expecting it. It doesn't matter if you have a great product, happy customers, or even healthy profit margins... It only takes one bad cash crisis to cause it all to fall apart. The good thing is that you can protect yourself from this fate! In this episode, Blaine and I break-down t...

To ship, or not to ship? 8 years ago, that's the big question Blaine and were battling with at Seven Sons... Up to that point, we had built a very successful buying club model, delivering to 50+ pickup locations throughout our region. Shipping always felt WAY too expensive, and a bad value proposition for our customers. Fast-forward to today, and we've closed all 50+ pickup locations and now exclu...

Retail vs wholesale... Which is most relevant for you in 2023? The short answer is that it depends! In this episode we unpack the pros & cons of both channels in order to help you determine where both fit into your 2023 strategy. Click for website & show notes

There's a lot of power in understanding your customers' buying psychology... Without a subscription, your customer has to let your know when they want their next order. With a subscription, your customer has to let your know when they DON'T want their next order. It's amazing how much value is tied up in that subtle, but distinct difference. Catch this episode to learn more about the tips, data, a...

Are your priced stay profitable in 2023? According to the USDA, consumers paid 12.4% more at the grocery store in Oct, 2022, vs Oct, 2021. As we continue through a season of unpredictable inflation, the consequences for neglecting price corrections has never been higher. At best-case, unsustainable pricing suffocates your ability to invest in growth. Maybe that's how you feel now... We've all been...

With season 2, we're relaunching the show under a new name (Food Chain Wars). Our vision is to grow the show into the most valuble free resource for farm2fork marketers (regardless if you use GrazeCart or not). We're here to help you climb the value-chain and reclaim your rightful market-share from big-ag and greedy 'greenwashing' corperations. That's what this show is about! Sound interesting? Ca...

Want to generate more engagement, clicks, and revenue with every email you write? We've brought Chad Graue (Director of Digital Marketing for Seven Sons) back on the show to help you do just that! In this episode, Chad will share three tips you can use to improve your email copywriting. Each tip is simple enough, you can put them to work in the very next email you write!

In the 'expert interview, you'll hear from Chad Graue (Digital Marketing Director at Seven Sons) share three proven promotion strategies that you can use to drive revenue growth this quarter. If you're looking for growth strategies, and have yet to offer your customer the occasional promotion or incentive to buy, then I guarantee you're leaving low-hanging fruit on the tree.

5 Marys Farms are doing a lot of things right and we've yet to see anyone leverage Instagram better. Their account is up to 200K+ followers, and they've used that audience to grow one heck of an eCommerce business. Catch our interview with Mary Heffernan to get their full story and advice for fellow farmers!

With any business, it is vital that your customers know and trust your operation which helps build a long-term customer relationship. In this episode, listen as Blaine and I discuss the importance of mastering video to build trust with your customers!

Our three favorite walk-in freezer solutions you can buy for up to ten times less than the price of buying new! This episode is the perfect resource to bookmark and refer back to the next time you're in the market for additional freezer square footage, (and need to do so on a budget).

This episode is for anyone who's ever been discouraged by failing to achieve their goals. In this episode, we show you how to use the SMARTER goals framework to increase the probability of goal achievement, and give you confidence that you're setting the right goals in the first place.

In this episode, you'll learn about how you can save time, and increase sales by dedicating a little upfront effort to simplifying the steps required to bring home a 1/4th cow!