When a Beef Vendor Three Stalls Away Sells Cheaper, and You Still Sell Out

Ethan and Natalie Brennegar run Haven Hills Farm in Webster, Minnesota, raising grass-fed beef, lamb, and pasture chicken. Four years in, they were on their second farmers market season with full freezers and no clear plan to move product. They had signed up with an e-commerce platform that promised support but delivered a website and little else. "We felt kind of like we were alone almost," Natalie says. Then Ethan found a podcast during his 45-minute commute, and the couple decided to pull the plug on the e-commerce investment, join a marketing coaching program, and fundamentally change how they approached their business.

The results over roughly eleven months: prices up 40% year over year (doubled over two years), sales per market up 60%, overall sales up 75%, and all beef shares sold before the season's first processing date. They shut off shipping entirely. They take their two-year-old to the cabin without guilt. And there is a beef vendor three-tenths of a mile from their market stall selling cheaper meat, yet Ethan still sells out.

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