Published in the April 2013 CitiScapes Metro Monthly Magazine, this is my article and photos for Farmbox Delivers, a local natural grocery delivery service.

1. APRIL 2013
$2.50 VALUE
A C E E N T S F O F U N
also:
PROFILE: Dennis Nelms and Fran Free
INTERSECTION: Severe Weather Safety from Dan Skoff
SPORTS: NWA Naturals Swing into Spring 2013
EATS & DRINKS: Meiji Japanese Cuisine in Fayetteville
NOTABLE AREA
HEALTH HAPPENINGS
FARMBOX DELIVERS
ORGANIC & LOCAL FOOD
A GARDEN WORKOUT
THAT WORKS
HEALTHY
LIVING

2. FARM BOX
DELIVERS
THE MODERN-DAY
MILKMAN
FE AT U R E | H E A LT HY L I V I N G | PHOTOS AND TEXT BY REBECCA BL ACK
achery Brown is bringing back the
milkman with his company, Farm
Box Delivers. But this milkman is delivering
more than just your local milk.
Three years ago, Brown asked himself
why the milkman went out of business. He
was in the industrial food business at the
time and did not like the ingredients the food
contained. He dreamed of a simpler time. “I
wanted to bypass the product and go directly
to the farmer,” Brown said.
And that is exactly what he did.
Farm Box Delivers is a delivery service
for organic, all-natural and local foods. With
online ordering, customers can choose which
foods they want delivered to their door. Your
Farm Box can contain fresh produce, local
meats, local milk and even products from
local artisans like Stone Mill Bread & Flour
Co. “We carry local, all-natural and organic
products because we believe that food in
its purest state — untouched by artificial
additives and preservatives — is the best-
tasting and most nutritious food available,”
Brown said.
Farm Box’s delivery trucks already
service more than 1,000 homes in Northwest
Arkansas after only about a year in business.
“The convenience and quality are all in line.
They can’t be beat. They deliver direct to my
door,” said customer Emily Wulf. “The more
we buy local, the better off we will be: health-
wise and community-wise.”
Brown built his company around the
concept of providing fresh, local food.
“Natural and organic food is important for us
to sell for health reasons, but to sell local food
is to support our community,” Brown said.
Edward Gay of Gay Orchards in
Springdale said he is grateful for what Farm
Box is doing. “It’s really nice to see someone
interested in selling locally grown produce,”
he said.
Christi and Zachery Brown,
owners of Farmbox Delivers
Z

3. WWW.CITISCAPES.COM | 79
For more information, visit
farmboxdelivers.com.
Brown wants Farm Box Delivers to be as
close to an all-inclusive grocery service as
possible, and to do so means getting some
of his products non-locally. “It’s not realistic
to sell only local because customers are still
going to want bananas and kiwi – and that’s
going to be hard to find grown in Arkansas,”
Brown said. “We want to make sure customers
get the food they want.”
The local food Brown does sell is labeled
with not only what the product contains,
but also where it came from. “We provide a
transparencyortraceabilityfactorso[customers]
can make a good choice on how to feed their
family,” Brown said. “Which is something that
isn’t found in other local or natural food stores.”
In order to compete with grocery stores,
Brown had to overcome a few obstacles. “I had
to change the mentality of both the farmer and
the consumer,” Brown said. “I had to change
the traditional food cycle of farmers selling to
grocery stores and customers going to them.”
Brown started meeting with farmers and
vendors eight months before he started his
business. He had to convince his suppliers
to sell their products based on his idea of
fresh, local food, and at a low price, too. “My
mission is to give farmers a fair price for their
products,” Brown said.
Brown only asks farmers for what will be
sold. Customers place their orders before he
communicates with the farmer, cutting out
wasted food, and eventually lowering costs.
“In order for us to take on the big guys, we
have to get our prices either equal or lower.”
He wants Farm Box to be affordable for
everyone to use. “Healthy food should not
only be for wealthy people,” Brown said.
Celeste Hoskins, a weekly customer of
Farm Box, said her grocery bill has been
lowered since she started getting deliveries.
“Walmart isn’t dumb, they know where to
place things so you’ll want them,” Hoskins
said. “[Farm Box] keeps me away from
buying junk food. Now, when I reach in the
fridge, I know it’s going to be fresh,” she said.
Farm Box Delivers has plans to help lower
its costs as it continues to grow. “We are
interested in beginning to buy futures with
farmers,” Brown said. “We want to interpret
our customers’ buying habits and get that
information to the farmer so they can know
what to grow.”
Farm Box is also planning on teaming up
with local company Lean Green Gourmet to
provide fully prepared meals to customers.
Brown hopes to expand his business in the
future by working with more local businesses
so he can better service his customers. “It takes
support from the entire community to support
a company like mine,” Brown said.