1. Finding Your Markets Webinar Series
“Starting a CSA”
Sponsored by Bright Agrotech
www.brightagrotech.com

2. 1. What is a CSA
2. The Pros and Cons of
CSAs
3. CSA Sales
4. Getting Started
5. Finding Customers
6. The CSA Contract
7. Marketing &
Management
8. The CSA Season
9. CSA Takeaways
webinar overview

3. Dr. Nate Storey

5. 1
CSA
What is

6. CSA is a contract between producer and customer
by which “shares” of farm production are sold
community
supported
agriculture
What is it?
17%
17%
17% 17%
17%
17%
Your Farm

7. History of CSA
Consumers of farm produce looking for
better, more accessible, more affordable
products would band together and buy
a farm and hire a manager.
Each customer would get a “share” of the production from the
farm correlating with the amount of the farm that they owned.

8. The concept evolved, with established
farmers offering CSA options to their
established customer base, while eliminating
the upfront cost of investing in a farm…
Sold production by shares for a set price
Season by season- no long term investment
Limiting large risks, sharing seasonal risks
Arguably the ideal form of this type of arrangement
Month by month or Season Lump payment
History of CSA (continued…)

9. The Pros and Cons of CSA’s2
Pros Cons

10. The Pros
Producers get guaranteed cash flows (lump payment)
Budgeting is easy
Seasonal risk sharing with customers
Niche market with higher pricing
Strong customer relationships- marketing foundation
Accountability and Connection
Community Supported Agriculture

11. Must still be marketed- Fill those share slots!
Must be able to deliver on expectations
Must deliver quality
Must have semi-established production before you start
Must accurately predict production and manage crops for
variety- keep your customer’s interest!
Accountability and Connection
Community Supported Agriculture
The CONS

12. 3 Community Supported
Agriculture Sales

13. Growing area of sales for small farms
Offers incredible amounts of security through risk
sharing with customers
!
Can be the single best way for small producers to
gain a foothold in their local market

14. 4
Getting
started

15. This gives you an accurate idea of what you can produce
Step #1)
You must be producing.
This allows you to sell an appropriate number of shares
Once you know what you can produce you can sell the right number of shares

16. you are producing, right?
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17. Disappointment in your product
is destructive
CSA
TIPS
Make sure your customers know
what they’re getting. Don’t promise
them something you can’t deliver
Word of Mouth is a great
marketing too, but can also ruin
your reputation

18. Where can you find them?
Finding Customers5
- Farmer’s markets
- Local Health Food Stores
- Personal Connections
- Advertisements

19. This often requires printed materials
explaining what you’re doing , why
you’re doing it, what crops you will be
growing, what they can expect, etc.
This is an active process that requires you to seek, find and sell people on your product!

20. Put together a contract &
explain the relationship
the Contract6
Bright Agrotech
1938 Harney St. Ste 152
Laramie, WY 82072
www.brightagrotech.com
Email: info@brightagrotech.com
308-249-2301
Community Supported Agriculture
2012-2013 Winter Contract
We believe that healthy, civically engaged communities are a powerful force in the fight
against hunger and the fight for fresh, healthy food. Because of this, we have designed our
products to strengthen the ties between people. Local agriculture offers not only a chance to
grow local economies, but the bonds between people within communities. We believe that
knowing the person who grows your food should be an important part of the American
lifestyle, and an important part of remembering where your food comes from. The CSA is
designed to both support local year-round growers and to provide local, nutritious, and
delicious greens and herbs to the Laramie Community. We believe that even small programs
can combat very big problems in the world and are very excited to invite you to embark on this
adventure with us.
This CSA will deliver greenhouse produced greens and herbs year round. All of our
products are grown within Laramie City Limits using sustainable and organic production
techniques and (mostly) renewable energy. All pest control is accomplished using OMRI
certified controls and methods. We invite CSA members to come and learn about our
greenhouse and our production techniques first hand on Farm Tour Days (Dates TBA).
PAYMENT POLICY
We expect payment due in full when turning in the contract. There will be two 6 month
CSA periods that will run on a weekly basis. The first CSA will start Nov. 1 and end Apr. 25. The
second CSA will start May 2 and end Oct. 31.*
Use our
template
What do they get?
What do you get?
What are the risks inherent in
the relationship?
The contract should explain EVERYTHING!

21. - Term of contract
- Delivery/pickup days/times
- Days off?
- Location
- Introduction to Staff
- Explanation of growing techniques/controls
- Contact Information
- How do you accept payment? Terms?
- Any other relevant details (excess food, friends picking up, etc.)
The fewer questions you have to answer the better-
eliminate your customers’ surprises
Other details to include:
the Contract (Continued…)

22. Put together a contact list
Marketing & MGMT7
• Sally J.
• Susan P.
• Marky M.
• Snoop D Oh Double G
• Chett S.
• Gary S.
• Nicky W.
CSA CONTACTS
* Primary marketing tool
* Educational tool

23. Figure out how to take payment, track members and subscriptions
!
Managing members
Excel
Recurly
!
Other online tools
Good old paper books

24. Take payment (sell as many of your available
shares as you can) with signed contract
Managing payments
Check your emails for a
CSA Contract Template

25. Up Front is better
- Limits your initial number of customers
- Less expensive to manage, fewer logistic
costs
- Guarantees payment
taking payment:
Up front vs monthly
Monthly is more common, but more risky
- Collecting Payment/Follow up is time
consuming and expensive
- No guarantee customers will continue to pay
(defeats the purpose)

26. You should have been growing in the meantime. . .
!

27. Budget your cash, month by month
Know your costs
!
Know what your CSA will cost
!

28. Plan out newsletters & educational materials
transparency & Communication
News-events, tours, information on
the greenhouses, successes & failures
What they’re getting that week
Recipes to use with the weeks produce
Every week we email our
customers & tell them:
*Marketing Note*
Using sites like Yelp that help with “social proof” is important1

29. The first day you deliver…
Be on time
Be friendly- shake all of your customer’s hands.
Plan on talking with as many of them as possible
Remember that relationship covers a multitude of sins!
Explain everything
THE CSA Season8
Do this every time you deliver!

30. Start selling your next cycle midway through your current cycle.
Never stop selling.
mid-season
!
Keeping enrollment and expanding
enrollment is a never-ending cycle.
Don’t take your eye off the ball.

31. Plan tours
Plant “treats” for
your customers
Communicate!
Throughout
the season

32. You will have a core of enthusiastic, dedicated, wonderful people, but there will aways be some
folks that don’t appreciate or understand the value of what you offer
!
Do what you can to make things right, but if that’s not enough, know when to refund a customer
!
Fill their slot with someone who will be one of your enthusiastic core
!
Never stop listening to your customers, but sometimes all the changes in the world won’t make a
customer happy.
csa takeaways9
Firing
customers
Know when to hire and fire new customers

33. You will fail.
!
You will screw things up, forget people, lose shares, have crop failures, light
baskets, bug problems, etc.
!
Don’t be unsympathetic to your customers
Do what you can to make things right when things do fail.
They understand the risk ,but that doesn’t mean you can disrespect their money.
making things right
9 times out of 10, if you have a relationship with
your customers, this process is much, much easier.

34. remember
They’re the ideal market because they are relational.
CSAs are not traditional markets.
Never forget that!

35. Webinar bonuses
To help you be as successful as possible…
CSA Workbook CSA Contract Templates

36. Get Growing
Today & Save
Save 15% on
ZipGrow towers
Thru April
shop.brightagrotech.com
“ZIPGROW04”
coupon code:

37. The Bright Agrotech Team
Chris
Paul
Noah
Questions?