161 How to Run an Online Farm Grocery with Neighborhood Hubs – Interview with Kate Estrade
May 25, 2022 by Corinna
In today’s episode, I interview a farmer from Louisiana, Kate Estrade, who is a curator of locally-produced farm goods — from her own pasture-based farm, as well as from over 25 other local farms and producers. She sells through an onsite “grocery” store as well as several neighborhood hubs. Customers have been “trained” to pre-order online each week and then come pickup their order at their location of choice.
In this episode, we talk about how this business model evolved over time, how Kate helps customers support many local producers in one stop, what marketing looks like for this kind of business, and how she decides what vendors to work with.
Could this “local distributor” model may be the ticket for your farm?…
Who is Kate Estrade?
Kate Estrade runs Local Cooling Farms, a regenerative, pasture-based farm, and Laughing Buddha Nursery, an organic gardening shop turned local grocery store in New Orleans, with her husband, Grant.
Kate grew up in a rural area south of Madison, Wisconsin, surrounded by row crops and while her family had a large vegetable garden, composted and frequented the farmer’s market, she never imagined she’d become a farmer herself.
After studying journalism in college and joining an AmeriCorps service program, she became very interested in food systems and sustainable local agriculture. Around that time, she met Grant at his organic gardening shop (buying worms for her apartment compost bin no less!). Eventually they bought the land that has become Local Cooling Farms, where they raise farrow-to-finish pigs, laying hens, meat goats and beef cattle and direct market all of their meat and eggs.
Kate has developed their neighborhood delivery hub model where they sell the majority of their farm products, as well as seasonal produce, dairy, chicken and duck, ferments, preserves, bread, pasta, rice, grits and more from 25 other local farms, producers and makers each week.
Learn more at LaughingBuddhaNursery.com
Instagram: @LocalCoolingFarms and @LaughingBuddhaNursery
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Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
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