Farm Update July 14th 2016
July 14th 2016
Dear Customers,
It has been some time since I last updated you regarding our farm business. We have been extremely busy pulling a lot of things together and making changes. Let me share a few of them with you.
First, thank you for selecting Nature’s Gourmet Farm to supply your beef, pork, and chicken. We appreciate your business and take our responsibility of providing premium quality products for your family very serious.
Business Strategy Shift: Until now, our business has been to sell our beef & pork under “custom” inspection guidelines meaning “Not For Resale” and includes large portions. However, what we have found is most folks do not care to select how their meat is processed (a.k.a. the cut sheet) and many do not have freezer space for large bulk purchases.
Thus, we have changed processing to a “state” inspection through Attala Frozen Foods in Kosciusko, MS. This means we will ALSO be offering smaller portions in addition to half shares. Half shares will now be offered in both custom (where you choose the processing) and bundle (where you are guaranteed to receive the weight and quantity of cuts listed). All products except custom now have fixed pricing.
1) All items will be vacuum sealed
2) Pork cured items are free of MSG, nitrates, and nitrites
Beth & I delivered the first seven steers to Attala last Sunday evening. Mr. Archie met us there to unload. He could not get over how good the steers looked and commented several times that they are the best grass-fed steers he has seen. His comments made the long drive home much better!
See our products page here: https://naturesgourmetfarm.com/store
Delivery: Additionally, our website was designed to work based on customers placing orders for a pickup location that corresponds to a date & time. We did not use this feature initially. However, we have learned that convenience is a key purchase decision. Thus, we have added four locations where we will deliver orders and meet customers. The dates are 4 weeks apart. Currently my website pricing structure only lets me have 5 locations. One of the decision points is how to balance the farm work with delivery! Note that each delivery date has an order cut-off date as well. Locations & dates may need to be tweaked. You can view our Pickup Locations and dates here: https://naturesgourmetfarm.com/locations
The Consumer Protection Division of the MS Dept. of Ag requires us to transport in a commercial unit capable of keeping the meat frozen – meaning a commercial freezer with a generator. After searching for 60+ days for something used we finally broke down and purchased a new freezer trailer to use for deliveries. Hopefully I will be able to share a picture soon.
A couple of Blog posts you may find interesting are: (located on the home page)
1) Grass-Fed Steak Mistakes by Shannon Hayes
2) Compost Tea. A 5-minute video where I discuss making compost tea for our pastures (please comment on the video if you liked it).
I have also added some Customer Reviews on the Home Page that speak to our products. https://naturesgourmetfarm.com/
As you can see, we have been busy dusting off the shelves, rearranging the product lines, and sweeping the floors. Now, it is time to generate business.
This weekend, about 4500 homes in the Hattiesburg area will receive a 4x6 card in the mail.
Newsletter: Some folks who registered to shop also signed up for our newsletter – some did not! Very soon, if you are not on the Newsletter list you will miss important specials, Pickup Locations, order dates, and etc. If you are interested in buying you will want to receive our Newsletter.
Retail Location: Beginning about August 1st, Vitamins Plus in Hattiesburg will be carrying our beef & pork in individual packs. They also plan to use some of the product in lunches that are served daily. Drop by and see what’s on the menu.
We value your feedback and hope you like the changes we are making to better serve you. Please let us know your thoughts.
