Meat Hub Handles Marketing, Delivery
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Nick Wallace takes the hassle out of selling meat directly to consumers for 26 Iowa livestock producers. His 99 Counties sells grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, lamb, and poultry, as well as pet food, to more than 1,300 consumers. His 99 Counties handles logistics from processing to packaging, storage, marketing, and shipping.
“We handle all the stuff in the middle that keeps small farmers from thriving with direct sales,” says Wallace. “That’s where people burn out. You can’t do all that and have a family life.”
Wallace knows what he’s talking about. For more than 17 years, he sold meat directly to consumers. The 99 Counties model was designed to solve the problems he faced.
“We invested in coolers, trucks, processors, and fuel, and we hit the road,” he recalls.
In 17 years, his family packed and delivered over 100,000 boxes and, as he says, collected countless hugs, handshakes, and conversations. The experience provided the basis in customers and expertise for 99 Counties.
“About 90 percent of our customers are what we built as Wallace Farms,” says Wallace. “99 Counties has let us expand what we can offer as we add more farmers.”
One of the chores he handles is scheduling processing. Wallace has five main processors to work with, including a poultry processor and one that does snack sticks.
Another big challenge for individual farmers is marketing, adds Wallace. 99 Counties developed their own website and use Shopify as their commerce platform. Delivery is via FedEx and UPS.
“Marketing is a full-time job,” he says. “We have a marketing manager who works on it, doing social media such as Instagram and Facebook. Facebook has provided our biggest return.”
With less than a year under his belt with 99 Counties, Wallace is satisfied with the organization’s growth. While the bulk of sales is split between Iowa customers and Chicago area customers, 99 Counties has shipped meat to California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and Texas.
“We did home delivery for about 10 months but couldn’t get it to scale compared to partnering with UPS and FedEx,” says Wallace. “It wasn’t bad in Iowa, but with Chicago customers, it meant vans, employees, a warehouse with freezers, all extra costs that were higher than working with UPS and FedEx.”
Using commercial shippers also works well with irregular shoppers. While he has a couple hundred customers signed up for monthly delivery, others order more sporadically. The challenge, he notes, is helping consumers understand the difference in their meat sources.
“People have choices,” says Wallace. “It’s really hard to get their attention and help them understand what we’re trying to do and why they should care. The marketing money we’ve spent has been pretty effective, and we’re seeing many new customers order a second and third time.”
The name 99 Counties relates to the number of counties in Iowa. Wallace would love to have producers in each county. His ultimate goal would be to have similar meat hubs in other states.
“We want to build this company where we pay a premium at the farm gate, so the farmer can make enough money to create nutrient-dense food with animals that are raised right,” says Wallace. “We want to be the disruptor in the middle that brings that food to the consumer.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, 99 Counties, 1531 74th St., Keystone, Iowa 52249 (ph 319-442-3244; contact@99counties.com; www.99counties.com).
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Meat Hub Handles Marketing Delivery LIVESTOCK Beef Nick Wallace takes the hassle out of selling meat directly to consumers for 26 Iowa livestock producers His 99 Counties sells grass-fed beef pasture-raised pork lamb and poultry as well as pet food to more than 1 300 consumers His 99 Counties handles logistics from processing to packaging storage marketing and shipping “We handle all the stuff in the middle that keeps small farmers from thriving with direct sales ” says Wallace “That’s where people burn out You can’t do all that and have a family life ” Wallace knows what he’s talking about For more than 17 years he sold meat directly to consumers The 99 Counties model was designed to solve the problems he faced “We invested in coolers trucks processors and fuel and we hit the road ” he recalls In 17 years his family packed and delivered over 100 000 boxes and as he says collected countless hugs handshakes and conversations The experience provided the basis in customers and expertise for 99 Counties “About 90 percent of our customers are what we built as Wallace Farms ” says Wallace “99 Counties has let us expand what we can offer as we add more farmers ” One of the chores he handles is scheduling processing Wallace has five main processors to work with including a poultry processor and one that does snack sticks Another big challenge for individual farmers is marketing adds Wallace 99 Counties developed their own website and use Shopify as their commerce platform Delivery is via FedEx and UPS “Marketing is a full-time job ” he says “We have a marketing manager who works on it doing social media such as Instagram and Facebook Facebook has provided our biggest return ” With less than a year under his belt with 99 Counties Wallace is satisfied with the organization’s growth While the bulk of sales is split between Iowa customers and Chicago area customers 99 Counties has shipped meat to California Oregon Washington Florida and Texas “We did home delivery for about 10 months but couldn’t get it to scale compared to partnering with UPS and FedEx ” says Wallace “It wasn’t bad in Iowa but with Chicago customers it meant vans employees a warehouse with freezers all extra costs that were higher than working with UPS and FedEx ” Using commercial shippers also works well with irregular shoppers While he has a couple hundred customers signed up for monthly delivery others order more sporadically The challenge he notes is helping consumers understand the difference in their meat sources “People have choices ” says Wallace “It’s really hard to get their attention and help them understand what we’re trying to do and why they should care The marketing money we’ve spent has been pretty effective and we’re seeing many new customers order a second and third time ” The name 99 Counties relates to the number of counties in Iowa Wallace would love to have producers in each county His ultimate goal would be to have similar meat hubs in other states “We want to build this company where we pay a premium at the farm gate so the farmer can make enough money to create nutrient-dense food with animals that are raised right ” says Wallace “We want to be the disruptor in the middle that brings that food to the consumer ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup 99 Counties 1531 74th St Keystone Iowa 52249 ph 319-442-3244; contact@99counties com; www 99counties com
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