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Designing for Future Rural Vitality
December 30, 2020
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January 1, 2021

Farm Diversification for meat producers

December 30, 2020
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  • Diversification Planning
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Farm Diversification

Farm Diversification for meat producers – finding your new customer

There are a few key elements to creating a successful farm diversification project. Firstly, you need to consider the skills and resources you already have to hand. Agri marketing

For example, imagine you want to offer meat boxes, do you have the butchery skills to prepare the meat on-farm? Or would this need to be done through someone else? Likewise consider the land and resources you have to hand, is there an old disused barn in a corner of a field, could that be converted into an attractive and rustic holiday let.

Choosing the right farm diversification for your farm

Regardless of what type of project you are interested in there are bound to be skills or resources that you are lacking. This issue is not whether you have all of the skills/resources required but to establish which projects suit the skills/resources you do have best. By considering your current skills/resources early in the diversification project you can also start to consider what resources or skills you will need to bring in. This could include needing a planning consultant to redevelop an existing building or a website designer to create a site you can sell from.

Once you have considered your skills and resources you will likely have discounted some diversification ideas, but you may have come up with even more. Now is a good time to write down a list of all the projects that suit your skillset.

From here you can consider how each of the farm diversification options will impact your current farming practices. We understand that convincing your parents of a new diversification project on their generational farm can be hard. It is to be expected that they will have fears over how the project will affect their existing farm business. Firstly, try to discount at projects which are likely to negatively impact or drastically change your current farm business. This will reduce the risk of the diversification project and will help to make the project more attractive to your family.

Ideally, you want to choose a diversification project which benefits or compliments the traditional farm activities.

So, as a meat producer, the obvious choice is to choose a diversification project which allows you to sell your meat for more money. Either directly to trade customers such as restaurants or to consumers for home use. But even you decide that selling meat through alternative routes to market is the best option for your farm you will need to take time to consider how best to do this.

Finding your ideal customer

We often deal with farmers who view everyone as their customer. Although we understand that view it is simply not effective when selling or marketing online. So, the next step in marketing a successful diversification project, is to consider who your ideal client is. Take time to develop your idea of them clearly.

How old are they? Do they have children? Where do they live? What are their hobbies or interests?

The answers to these questions will vary between farms and there is no wrong or right answers. Your answers might include men aged 30-40 living near Cardiff, or women in their 50’s in Birmingham. But the key is to find the right ideal customer for you.

The more you learn about your ideal customer the easier it will be to target them through marketing and to connect with them on a personal level. By developing strong relationships with your customers, you will increase spending and have more repeat custom.

If you decide sell to businesses, either hospitality or retail your ideal customer will be a company, rather than a person, but the same applies in finding the right businesses.

Once you know who your ideal customer is you can start to decide on the best way to sell to them.

Your Farm diversification product

So now you have a good idea of your diversification plan and who your ideal customer is. The next step is to consider more specifically the product you are offering. You need to consider what is achievable and practical for your Agri-business. If you can access butchery services either on-farm or very locally then your options are very open and you may well be able to supply a full range of meat products. But if this is a concern you may find aagri marketing for meat more refined version of the ½ or ¼ carcass approach is a better fit. This can be refined with some limited butchery and a meat box style option.

You also need to consider the logistics of moving the product from your farm to your customer. Will they have to come and pick it up? Will you courier it? How will that affect your costs?

Dealing with carcass balance through farm marketing

Now one concern that often comes up is carcass balance. There will always be a higher demand for some cuts of meat compared to others, whether its bacon over pork shoulder or mince over steak. But you can use marketing to reduce this issue.

Meat Boxes are a popular way to ensure carcass balance is maintained. However, some consumers can be put off by the fear of receiving cuts they don’t know how to use. But there are some simple ways to reduce this issue, we can learn a lot from how vegetable box suppliers have dealt with similar fears. By including an information card with your meat boxes, you can give customers information on the cuts of meat included in the box and even offer them some recipe ideas for the less popular cuts.

These can also be included on your website as a great way of showing your expertise and building a relationship with your ideal customer.

Why is your farm business special?

This brings me on to the next issue. There is an increasing number of local suppliers of quality meat direct from farm to table, so what makes you so special?

When marketing online you need to consider what makes you different from your competitors. This could be related to your service, your product, or your ideal customer, or something else entirely.

Try making a list of the things that makes you stand apart from your competitors. Think about what the alternative options are for your ideal customers, is it a supermarket? Is it another farm shop?

How can you stand apart from these alternatives?

Are you free range? Organic? Do you raise rare or native breeds? Is it there something special about the service you offer?

This list can help you to plan what elements of your offering will be important when marketing your products to your ideal customer. It can also help when developing branding for your business. For example, if your livestock are kept free-range you may want to reflect this with green or earthy tones in your brand colours.

Bringing your Farm Brand to life

Farm brandingNow I am not going to detail every stage of developing a farm brand here. But this is a rough description of how we start to build your brand based on the decisions you have made about your ideal customer and product.

When we first look at marketing, we start by completing research on other relevant brands and your ideal customer. At this stage, we also start to develop an understanding of your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy which in turn ensures that not only will your website look great but your customers will be able to find it. Most website development companies don’t undertake SEO research when building your site. This means we often meet clients who have spent a lot of money on a very pretty website but it is doing nothing for their business because their ideal customer isn’t landing on the site. We ensure that SEO is built into your website from the start.

While the website is being built it is time to consider the pretty bit of marketing the branding. We work with a few excellent graphic designers who help our clients to create stunning and impactful logos and branding elements. Your brand should be a distilled visual indicator of what your business does and what it stands for. A logo can communicate quality, product, heritage and so much more.

How can we make your farm diversification a success?

So, with a great brand, a clear ideal customer and an SEO ready website you are almost ready to go. But now you need to consider how you are going to keep that momentum going. We speak to so many people who think once all the above is done you just have to sit back and wait for the customers to come. But it isn’t that simple, you need to keep the momentum up.

The internet, much like people, loves new things and so you have to keep feeding it with new quality content. Which is why we develop content plans for our clients, we normally plan 3-6 months of content and then get to work on creating it for our clients. Sometimes we write blogs for them sometimes we record videos, sometimes we just coach clients on how to create their own content. But the key is to have quality targeted content that your ideal customer will connect with. And that is our speciality.

So what’s stopping you? Book a free initial consultation today!

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5 Instagram Reel ideas to market your artisan-spir
5 Instagram Reel ideas to market your artisan-spirit farm business

🍸 Why do we use [insert unusual ingredient] to make our [insert spirit]?
🍸 A tour of our distillery! What system do we use?
🍸 3 ways we are making our [insert spirit] carbon-neutral!
🍸 How do we make [insert spirit]? See our behind-the-scenes process!
🍸Cocktail Masterclass
🍸 Which spirit should I choose for my cocktail?

Do you use reels for your business?


Alternative meat products to add to your farm busi
Alternative meat products to add to your farm business - Charcuterie 

Charcuterie can be an excellent option for extending a product range as the products can be made from your existing meat supplies, or you could choose to team up with a local charcuterie business. 

Additionally, the shelf life of charcuterie products is often significantly longer than other meat-based products. Charcuterie also often uses less desirable parts of an animal, such as in the case of using cheaper cuts in salamis.


Instagram Reel ideas for your dairy diversificatio
Instagram Reel ideas for your dairy diversification

🧀 What happens to male calves on our farm?
🧀 A tour of our milking parlour! What system do we use?
🧀 Why do we use mob grazing for our cows? And what is it?
🧀 How do we make our ice cream? See our behind-the-scenes process!
🧀 Cheese tasting masterclass
🧀 Which cheese should I choose for my cheese board?
🧀Why should you buy milk from vending machines rather than from the supermarket?

 #cheese #britishcheese #dairy #dairyuk #britishdairy #milk #milkvendingmachine


8 farm diversification options for livestock farme
8 farm diversification options for livestock farmers

1. Milk vending machines – for dairy diversification
2. Crop mazes – for kid-friendly farm diversification
3. Shepherd Huts – the classic farm diversification
4. Glamping – the agritourism option
5. Ice cream – the tasty farm diversification
6. Storage containers – the commercial farm diversification
7. Clay pigeon shooting – for estate diversification
8. Growing truffles – the high-end farm diversification

If you are planning a farm marketing strategy to promote your farm diversification then we would also recommend you book a consultation with us.

 #lamb #hogget #beef #organicfarming #pork #rarebreed #highwelfaremeat #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming  #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #agriculturemarketing #buybritish #organicfarming #agribranding #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation


Diversification idea – wool business!
Why choose a

Diversification idea - wool business!
Why choose a wool business?

A wool, yarn or fibre business can be an effective farm diversification for adding value to something that is often a by-product of the sheep farming sector. But there are also lots of other types of fibre to consider, from alpaca to plant-based fibres. Fibre businesses are useful for bringing in additional income on a smaller scale and tend to work well alongside a wider farm business strategy or even as a way to make money from your smallholding.

Fibre businesses can range from selling raw fleece through to spinning yarn and even dying yarns. 

Do you sell wool or fibre from your farm?

 #wool #yarn #knittinguk #felting #sheep #rarebreedsheep #britishwool #handspunyarn


How much would you need to sell to invest £600 pe
How much would you need to sell to invest £600 per month in your business? 

Is it 20 veg boxes? 2 glamping holidays? 100 bars of soap? 
How many new clients would we need to bring you?

With packages starting from as little as £200 and most under £675 per month, why not? 

#glamping #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming #agribusiness #britishfarming #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #socialmediamarketing #contentmarketing #agriculturemarketing #devon #rurallife #rbst #agristudent #buylocal #supportfarmers #buybritish #shopsmall #dairy #organicfarming #agribranding #youngfarmers #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #thisfarminglife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation


Video content for wool businesses needn’t be har
Video content for wool businesses needn’t be hard. Some ideas could include:

🐑 How is it made videos – show the processes within your business, such as spinning
🐑  Why do we do … – explain your practices and educate your audience
🐑  Product reveals – show your new products dressed and displayed in the best possible light
🐑  Before and after – show your goods before and after processes: from sheep to yarn,
🐑  Meet the team – show yourself or your team behind the business.


Want to transform your farm business?
Are you read

Want to transform your farm business?
Are you ready to take your agri-business to the next level?

Instalment option - 6 monthly instalments of £1250
One time payment - We offer a 10% discount making it just £6750

Find out more on our website - go to the link in bio

 #glamping #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming #agribusiness #britishfarming #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #socialmediamarketing #contentmarketing #agriculturemarketing #devon #rurallife #rbst #agristudent #buylocal #supportfarmers #buybritish #shopsmall #dairy #organicfarming #agribranding #youngfarmers #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #thisfarminglife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation
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