Navigating E-Commerce & Local Delivery for Direct to Consumer Farmers and Ranchers

Today on the Meat Success Podcast Katie Olthoff, Co-Founder of ChopLocal/ChopLocal University) interviews Mackenzie Wright of Kentucky’s Jones Brothers Farm about their delivery-first model, product mix, and why they use Shopify. Mackenzie shares the farm’s history since 2010, emphasizing diversification (beef, tomatoes, sweet corn, watermelons, hay, tobacco; formerly hemp) and transparent education around being a conventional farm. The farm transitioned from selling beef by quarters/halves to beef boxes and single cuts, learning which cuts move best for their largely female, urban customer base, and building sales from an established produce email list. They sell mainly via home delivery (one local farmers market) and are exploring wholesale expansion; they do not ship. Shopify was chosen for integrated payments, apps (routing, pickup options), email via Seguno, improved website design, analytics tools including an AI query feature, subscription/advance-date ordering, and adding a checkout processing fee, with a focus on customer service and storytelling to build trust. 01:35 Jones Brothers Farm Story 02:41 Diverse Crops and Beef Practices 04:43 From Shares to Single Cuts 06:53 Delivery Model and Cut Demand 08:39 Know Your Customer Base 10:27 Produce CSA to Add Ons 12:12 Tomato Sizes and Sales 13:03 Farmers Markets Strategy 14:55 Wholesale Expansion and Shipping 16:55 Why They Chose Shopify 19:49 Shopify Apps for Routing 21:46 Do You Really Need an App 24:08 Subscriptions and Preorders 25:20 CSA vs Subscription 26:53 Skipping Weeks Flexibly 28:27 Hemp Loss Ends CSA 31:06 Email and Seguno 34:48 Shopify Design Wins 37:55 Analytics AI Helper 39:38 Processing Fee Strategy 42:24 Selling Trust Story 44:04 Farm Content Without Shock 46:44 COVID Delivery Shift Wrap And learn more about ChopLocal and ChopLocal University Below! https://choplocal.com and https://www.choplocaluniversity.com/