CSA farms, or farms that sell seasonal farm box subscriptions to local consumers, have struggled to attract and retain customers in recent years due to increased competition and changing consumer demands.
According to Ryan Galt at the University of California in a study of 1,454 current and former farm share / CSA members1, the top four reasons that members leave are all due to lack of choice in the share.
This season, The Fallon Food Hub & Great Basin Basket Farm Share is introducing a partnership with Harvie, an online farm share platform, to help overcome this limitation and better serve local consumers.
“In the past, the bulk of our subscribers have received a standard box of produce regardless of what they like and what they don’t like, but we know that some people hate beets and some people can’t get enough. Through our new partnership with Harvie, we are able to customize every box so we make sure each member gets what they want,” says Kelli Kelly, executive director of the Fallon Food Hub.
Harvie allows each member to set preferences of what products they like and what products they don’t. Then each week, The Fallon Food Hub enters of a list of all crops that are ready for harvest and Harvie’s algorithm matches the harvest to each member’s preferences to give each member a perfect box for that week’s harvest. The member has 24-48 hours to make changes to their box and order extras. Then Harvie feeds that information back to The Fallon Food Hub for packing and delivery.
To learn more, visit www.fallonfoodhub.com or go to harvie.farm/sign-up/fallon-food-hub to sign up.
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