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Tara Firma Farms Doubles Home Delivery Membership with New eCommerce Store
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Agriculture
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Farm Monitoring & Precision Farming
- Last Mile Delivery
The Challenge
Tara Firma Farms, a Bay Area farm and CSA known for their pasture-raised meats, experienced a sudden doubling of their home delivery membership due to the pandemic. This surge in demand presented a significant challenge for the farm, which was using outdated CSA management software with limited functionality. The software was better suited for smaller, produce-only CSAs and required manual intervention for tasks such as offering discounts or analyzing sales data. The farm was also in the process of replacing their CSA management software, adding to the stress of managing the increased demand. Additionally, the farm discovered that they were undercharging for delivery and some delivery routes were not profitable.
About The Customer
Tara Firma Farms is a pasture-raised farm and CSA based in the Bay Area. Known for their home delivery service, the farm practices regenerative agriculture by rotating their cows, pigs, and turkeys to different pastures. All of the beef is grass-fed, leading to a leaner cut. The farm is also committed to education and transparency, offering free farm tours to their customers prior to the pandemic. After the pandemic struck, their membership doubled in just three weeks due to a higher demand for local, reliable, and sustainable food that could be delivered directly to people’s doorsteps.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Tara Firma Farms replaced their old CSA management software with GetSwift’s SaaS eCommerce + Delivery software. This new platform provided valuable business insights, such as the realization that the farm was undercharging for delivery. As a result, the farm raised their delivery fee and required all new members to get at least one meat share, making the driver routes profitable. The new software also allowed for the creation of a beautifully designed eCommerce store, which became a one-stop-shop for high-end local products. The new routing functionality of the software enabled the farm to easily move a route from one night to another or add stops, optimizing routes automatically. The drivers could also update invoices or mark items returned from the road, all synced in real time.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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