Announcing Our Farm Share
September 16, 2020
Farm Friends! It’s Ina here. You may remember me as the Project Manager when we built out the Whole Foods farm. Since then, my role has evolved and I’m helping the team figure out this new business model and farm share program.
We paused all orders at the beginning of September and you may be wondering, “What’s the farm down in a basement in TriBeCa doing now?” Well, I’m here to tell you.
The Background
Back in 2016, Rob, our CEO and founder, built a farm for chefs. With an obsession for flavor and quality, we built a successful business that added something brand new into the New York market: fresh, high quality, nasty free produce that couldn’t be found in the city otherwise. But like all of us, the world turned upside down around us with the COVID pandemic and we were sent back to the drawing board.
When New York shut down in March 2020, instead of calling it a day, or at least hitting pause, we decided to go on the attack. We pivoted to a direct-to-consumer model. But, after a couple of months, we realized buying food isn’t the same as many of the other e-commerce sites we see day-to-day.
We started looking at what other farms like us were doing. We drew a lot of inspiration from Alicia at Herban Produce in Chicago and Mary at Little Wild Things Farm in DC, two extraordinary female farmers that have built amazing farms. Frankly, they gave us a lot of courage for what we’re going to try next.
The Change
This past Monday, we launched our brand new Farm Share Program. A big part of Farm.One’s philosophy is openness and transparency. We’ve been proud that we’re one of the few indoor farms that anyone can visit, get a tour and even attend a class (that’ll return soon!). True to our ethos, I’d like to tell you about our thinking behind this change:
1. Switching gears is really hard.
Pre-COVID, we had perfected our grow-to-order production model for our chef sales business. It was necessarily bespoke. We were able to meet the highly exacting standards of the best chefs in New York City. But that didn’t work for consumer production. We tried to adapt that model and we weren’t getting the traction we needed. The team worked so hard to keep everything going. However, it was clear we needed to rethink things.
2. We needed to reduce waste.
One of the hardest parts to accept in our previous model was the amount of produce that wasn’t being sold. Early on we kept everything growing because we weren’t sure when restaurants would be back and we didn’t want to leave our chefs stranded when they reopened. This meant we were growing, then trying to market and sell that produce, and sometimes, no one would be there to buy it. Of course we would find ways to donate this product, but it just wasn’t sustainable.
3. It’s about relationships.
We love connecting with you all. We love sharing our passion and seeing you enjoy that. When laying out all of our options on how to continue our business, we thought about the relationships we value the most. Our chefs. Our tour customers. Our community. We wanted to create this farm share program to do exactly what it says: share the farm and continue to surprise and delight you all.
4. We want to focus on what we do best - growing incredible flavors.
Running an e-commerce store, marketing, advertising, etc. Eh - maybe that’s just not our thing! I know that $250 upfront for a farm share sounds a bit odd. Especially when you don’t have the choice of what to pick. But here’s why: this allows us to focus on what we know we do well, growing really good produce. We can continue our obsession with flavor and quality.
5. We need a broader variety of products.
It’s easy to retreat to our comfort zone but in our hearts we know, that’s not the Farm.One way. We needed to make time to focus on what we do well. This gives us an opportunity to try new types of products and continue expanding our selection of 700+ greens, herbs, and edible flowers. Justin Randolph, our Operations Director, is excited about the farm share because “this model will afford us a wider latitude for researching exciting new crop varieties. I’m most excited about being able to share the results of our research with folks who are passionate about supporting local farming.”
Still wondering why you should join the farm share program? Continue reading here!
I thank you for your continued support in our farm and can’t wait to share surprises with you all in the upcoming weeks!
Announcing Our Farm Share
September 16, 2020
Farm Friends! It’s Ina here. You may remember me as the Project Manager when we built out the Whole Foods farm. Since then, my role has evolved and I’m helping the team figure out this new business model and farm share program.
We paused all orders at the beginning of September and you may be wondering, “What’s the farm down in a basement in TriBeCa doing now?” Well, I’m here to tell you.
The Background
Back in 2016, Rob, our CEO and founder, built a farm for chefs. With an obsession for flavor and quality, we built a successful business that added something brand new into the New York market: fresh, high quality, nasty free produce that couldn’t be found in the city otherwise. But like all of us, the world turned upside down around us with the COVID pandemic and we were sent back to the drawing board.
When New York shut down in March 2020, instead of calling it a day, or at least hitting pause, we decided to go on the attack. We pivoted to a direct-to-consumer model. But, after a couple of months, we realized buying food isn’t the same as many of the other e-commerce sites we see day-to-day.
We started looking at what other farms like us were doing. We drew a lot of inspiration from Alicia at Herban Produce in Chicago and Mary at Little Wild Things Farm in DC, two extraordinary female farmers that have built amazing farms. Frankly, they gave us a lot of courage for what we’re going to try next.
The Change
This past Monday, we launched our brand new Farm Share Program. A big part of Farm.One’s philosophy is openness and transparency. We’ve been proud that we’re one of the few indoor farms that anyone can visit, get a tour and even attend a class (that’ll return soon!). True to our ethos, I’d like to tell you about our thinking behind this change:
1. Switching gears is really hard.
Pre-COVID, we had perfected our grow-to-order production model for our chef sales business. It was necessarily bespoke. We were able to meet the highly exacting standards of the best chefs in New York City. But that didn’t work for consumer production. We tried to adapt that model and we weren’t getting the traction we needed. The team worked so hard to keep everything going. However, it was clear we needed to rethink things.
2. We needed to reduce waste.
One of the hardest parts to accept in our previous model was the amount of produce that wasn’t being sold. Early on we kept everything growing because we weren’t sure when restaurants would be back and we didn’t want to leave our chefs stranded when they reopened. This meant we were growing, then trying to market and sell that produce, and sometimes, no one would be there to buy it. Of course we would find ways to donate this product, but it just wasn’t sustainable.
3. It’s about relationships.
We love connecting with you all. We love sharing our passion and seeing you enjoy that. When laying out all of our options on how to continue our business, we thought about the relationships we value the most. Our chefs. Our tour customers. Our community. We wanted to create this farm share program to do exactly what it says: share the farm and continue to surprise and delight you all.
4. We want to focus on what we do best - growing incredible flavors.
Running an e-commerce store, marketing, advertising, etc. Eh - maybe that’s just not our thing! I know that $250 upfront for a farm share sounds a bit odd. Especially when you don’t have the choice of what to pick. But here’s why: this allows us to focus on what we know we do well, growing really good produce. We can continue our obsession with flavor and quality.
5. We need a broader variety of products.
It’s easy to retreat to our comfort zone but in our hearts we know, that’s not the Farm.One way. We needed to make time to focus on what we do well. This gives us an opportunity to try new types of products and continue expanding our selection of 700+ greens, herbs, and edible flowers. Justin Randolph, our Operations Director, is excited about the farm share because “this model will afford us a wider latitude for researching exciting new crop varieties. I’m most excited about being able to share the results of our research with folks who are passionate about supporting local farming.”
Still wondering why you should join the farm share program? Continue reading here!
I thank you for your continued support in our farm and can’t wait to share surprises with you all in the upcoming weeks!
More videos
Announcing Our Farm Share
Ina Tubilleja
September 16, 2020
Farm Friends! It’s Ina here. You may remember me as the Project Manager when we built out the Whole Foods farm. Since then, my role has evolved and I’m helping the team figure out this new business model and farm share program.
We paused all orders at the beginning of September and you may be wondering, “What’s the farm down in a basement in TriBeCa doing now?” Well, I’m here to tell you.
The Background
Back in 2016, Rob, our CEO and founder, built a farm for chefs. With an obsession for flavor and quality, we built a successful business that added something brand new into the New York market: fresh, high quality, nasty free produce that couldn’t be found in the city otherwise. But like all of us, the world turned upside down around us with the COVID pandemic and we were sent back to the drawing board.
When New York shut down in March 2020, instead of calling it a day, or at least hitting pause, we decided to go on the attack. We pivoted to a direct-to-consumer model. But, after a couple of months, we realized buying food isn’t the same as many of the other e-commerce sites we see day-to-day.
We started looking at what other farms like us were doing. We drew a lot of inspiration from Alicia at Herban Produce in Chicago and Mary at Little Wild Things Farm in DC, two extraordinary female farmers that have built amazing farms. Frankly, they gave us a lot of courage for what we’re going to try next.
The Change
This past Monday, we launched our brand new Farm Share Program. A big part of Farm.One’s philosophy is openness and transparency. We’ve been proud that we’re one of the few indoor farms that anyone can visit, get a tour and even attend a class (that’ll return soon!). True to our ethos, I’d like to tell you about our thinking behind this change:
1. Switching gears is really hard.
Pre-COVID, we had perfected our grow-to-order production model for our chef sales business. It was necessarily bespoke. We were able to meet the highly exacting standards of the best chefs in New York City. But that didn’t work for consumer production. We tried to adapt that model and we weren’t getting the traction we needed. The team worked so hard to keep everything going. However, it was clear we needed to rethink things.
2. We needed to reduce waste.
One of the hardest parts to accept in our previous model was the amount of produce that wasn’t being sold. Early on we kept everything growing because we weren’t sure when restaurants would be back and we didn’t want to leave our chefs stranded when they reopened. This meant we were growing, then trying to market and sell that produce, and sometimes, no one would be there to buy it. Of course we would find ways to donate this product, but it just wasn’t sustainable.
3. It’s about relationships.
We love connecting with you all. We love sharing our passion and seeing you enjoy that. When laying out all of our options on how to continue our business, we thought about the relationships we value the most. Our chefs. Our tour customers. Our community. We wanted to create this farm share program to do exactly what it says: share the farm and continue to surprise and delight you all.
4. We want to focus on what we do best - growing incredible flavors.
Running an e-commerce store, marketing, advertising, etc. Eh - maybe that’s just not our thing! I know that $250 upfront for a farm share sounds a bit odd. Especially when you don’t have the choice of what to pick. But here’s why: this allows us to focus on what we know we do well, growing really good produce. We can continue our obsession with flavor and quality.
5. We need a broader variety of products.
It’s easy to retreat to our comfort zone but in our hearts we know, that’s not the Farm.One way. We needed to make time to focus on what we do well. This gives us an opportunity to try new types of products and continue expanding our selection of 700+ greens, herbs, and edible flowers. Justin Randolph, our Operations Director, is excited about the farm share because “this model will afford us a wider latitude for researching exciting new crop varieties. I’m most excited about being able to share the results of our research with folks who are passionate about supporting local farming.”
Still wondering why you should join the farm share program? Continue reading here!
I thank you for your continued support in our farm and can’t wait to share surprises with you all in the upcoming weeks!
