Managing fulfillment for a food hub is no small feat, especially when serving a widespread county like Siskiyou, which spans 7,000 square miles. At Siskiyou Farm Co., we have refined our processes to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction, leveraging the capabilities of Local Line.
As James Clear wisely said in his book Atomic Habits, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” This underscores the mundane tasks, time, and effort it takes to manage fulfillment, but it's the systems we’ve put in place that make all the difference.
Siskiyou Farm Co. is an online food hub designed to bridge the gap between producers and consumers. Our online storefront is open from Wednesday through Sunday each week, featuring a wide variety of local products, including fresh produce, meats, breads, pasta, wine, and more. Customers can effortlessly shop, fill their carts, and select from three convenient Wednesday pick up locations in Scott Valley, Yreka, or Mt. Shasta.
By dedicating time and effort to leveraging the tools of Local Line and continuously refining our fulfillment process, we've created a system that works seamlessly for us and our vendors, making our operations much easier to manage.
Each component, from order management to customer notifications, is strategically planned and executed to ensure smooth operations with minimal friction. In this blog, we’ll share insights into our pick up process, the strategic selection of our locations, and the essential settings in Local Line that help us maintain optimal efficiency. Whether you're looking to optimize your own food hub operations or seeking inspiration for managing local food distribution, our experiences and strategies will provide valuable insight.
At Siskiyou Farm Co., refining our pick up process was a journey of persistence and innovation that took a full year to perfect. The challenge was creating a system that could effectively serve our widespread community while maintaining the essence of local accessibility and personal connection. After much trial and error, we developed a model that allows us to host "pick up events," ensuring we can reach as many customers as possible across a large geographic area.
Our pick up events are designed to resemble a mobile market. Each event is marked by our branded tent, complete with vibrant signage and well-organized tables, creating an inviting space that echoes the lively atmosphere of a local market. This setup helps us serve a broader customer base and creates a sense of community and engagement.
The layout of each event is carefully planned to ensure ease of access and efficiency. Boxes are pre-sorted at our packing location, where each item is carefully packed, labeled with colored tags according to its destination—blue for Mt. Shasta, green for Yreka, and pink for Scott Valley—and arranged to ensure that frozen and refrigerated items are kept separate from dry goods.
Our pick up events are on Wednesday each week. Early in the morning, our team loads the pre-sorted and labelled boxes into our vehicle. Each box is cross-checked to ensure it is secure and labelled. As we begin loading up the orders, we verify each one against our customer pick up list to ensure accuracy, and then it's off to the races, also known as our first pick up event.
At each location, we set up our distribution area with care, ensuring that customers can easily access their orders. The setup includes our branded tent and clear signage, making the pick up process straightforward.
As customers arrive, we take the time to personally greet each one. This interaction is more than just a transaction; it’s an opportunity to build relationships. We chat with our customers, learn their names, and remember their preferences. These small, meaningful interactions make a big difference and help us create a strong sense of community.
These events are a highlight of our week, allowing us to connect with our customers in a relaxed and enjoyable setting. Bringing the farms, ranches, and food businesses to different locales makes it easier for customers to connect with us and the broader agricultural community.
Choosing the right locations for our pick up events has been essential to our success at Siskiyou Farm Co. It's not just about logistics; it's about creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for our customers.
In an ideal world, we would have one central location for customers to pick up their orders. However, given that our county spans 7,000 square miles, this wasn't feasible. We knew from the beginning that flexibility would be crucial. We initially started in Scott Valley and Yreka, with Yreka being our highest populated area, and eventually expanded to Mt. Shasta.
We prioritize accessibility and convenience, ensuring that our pick up points are easy to reach for the majority of our customers. By selecting locations that are central and close to main transportation routes, we make it as easy as possible for everyone to get their orders without hassle. This careful planning helps maintain the freshness of our products, reducing the time they spend in transit.
Community feedback plays a huge role in our decision-making process. We actively engage with our customers to gather their input on our pick up locations. Their suggestions and feedback help us make informed adjustments, ensuring that we continually improve and better serve their needs. This open dialogue with our community is invaluable in refining our operations and boosting customer satisfaction.
Our partnerships with local businesses are another key element. By collaborating with these businesses, we not only streamline our logistics but also build a network of community support. These partnerships bring additional foot traffic to our partners and provide our customers with convenient, familiar places to pick up their orders. It's a win-win situation that strengthens our community ties and makes our pick up events even more special.
At Siskiyou Farm Co., managing fulfillment would be a whole lot harder without Local Line. We heavily rely on their features, including pick and pack lists, fulfillment plans, integrations, and customer notifications. With Local Line, I can easily pull pick lists and pack lists, set pick up locations with addresses and instructions, and maintain a recurring schedule. It allows us to notify customers throughout their order experience—from purchase to pick up—set automatic price list reminders, and integrate with SMS text notifications. This comprehensive tool has made our operations smoother and more efficient. I love it.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of how we use these features throughout the week:
By creating systems and leveraging powerful tools like Local Line, we have successfully managed the complexities of fulfillment for Siskiyou Farm Co. We've intentionally placed a high premium on investing time and effort into creating systems for our pick up process, pick up events, and use of technology, positioning us for success and enabling us to provide consistency, ease, and reliability not only for our food hub but also for our producers and consumers. If I leave you with nothing else, I cannot stress enough how important creating systems is for managing fulfillment.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
With the right systems in place, the challenging and often mundane task of managing fulfillment can become a smooth and rewarding experience, allowing you to optimize efficiency and focus on other important areas of your business.
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