A New Year
posted on
January 14, 2025
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here on the farm, we're reeling from the equivalent of a run on the bank. A combination of things created a run on our inventory after mid-season, 2024.
Unlike industrial food systems, we don't go out and buy inventory in the market when our inventory runs low. We grow our animals, harvest them, store them, and it's a seasonal cycle that has a replenishment lag if we misjudge.
At Polyface, we try to plan to grow enough animals to meet the market, but not too much over that. Feeding eggs to pigs is expensive. We've done that.
As 2024 moved into late summer, we realized we had underestimated our market. In a perfect world, we'd hit our inventory expectations on the nose, every time. But this isn't a perfect world.
I'm here to explain, in full transparency, how we got into a deficit inventory.
Be assured that the 2025 season will see some major production increases to respond to this exciting new reality.
So here we go, three things.
First, our new website.
Throughout 2023, we invested in revamping our website to make it more intuitive, to flow better, and to capture more precisely all the different faces of Polyface. We had no idea how that investment would pay off.
Once those improvements were made, a trickle of efficiency turned into a gusher.
Second, MAHA.
MAHA is Robert F. Kennedy Jr's (known as RFK Jr) movement to "Make America Healthy Again".
The media, podcasts, and conversations surrounding the MAHA agenda created an unprecedented interest in everything health-related, especially the "unorthodox". People found us.
The entire alternative health community, from crunchy moms to herbalists to naturopaths to functional medicine doctors to acupuncturists and iridologists is enjoying new interest like never before.
On the heels of Covid, the quest to bolster immune function awakened a new cultural search for wellness. People are asking: What is wellness? How do I stay well?
The MAHA discussion is now launched in earnest, and it's not over by a long shot. At Polyface, we did not foresee the magnitude of this discussion nor the effect it would have on our late summer sales.
Third, reputation and podcasts.
I'm lumping these together because they are absolutely related. The podcast phenomenon, or what is called non-mainstream media, is taking over Americans' informational conduit.
Joe Rogan's podcast reaches millions more people than all the mainstream TV networks combined.
RFK Jr. told a funny story about something he'd seen on TV news and his son asked, totally serious, "Dad, is there news on TV?" For real. People under 40 don't get their information from TV.
The Polyface brand is now a sought-after voice in the podcast world.
Often the podcast hosts ask "Where can people get your stuff?" The answer is simple: "Polyfacefarm.com."
Suddenly, we see a bump in sales.
Here's a Polyface fact:
Our "production pipeline" is long. This is the time it takes to start with a young animal and end with food on the shelves or the website for you.
For beef it takes three years. Pigs are nearly a year. Chickens are about four months old.
Right now, we're planning all the animals we'll raise for all of 2025.
The fastest item we can "restock" is broilers (meat chickens). They grow the fastest once spring arrives. Second is pork and third is beef.
We have the capacity to increase everything except beef. (And we're continuing to work on the issue: enough land to raise them.)
Both over- and under-inventory are problematic, so it's a delicate balance. Be assured we are doing everything in our power to adjust; to eliminate disappointment without creating an overage problem.
Thank you for hanging in there with us. This is a good opportunity to try something perhaps you haven't used before. We always have some things; just not everything at every moment.
Be adventuresome and try a new cut, a new product. You might be surprised what a joy it is to add it to your culinary portfolio. Feel free to reach out to our team if you need ideas for how to use one of our meats. We have so many cooks among us.
Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thank you for your loyalty and faith in us. Polyface is working hard to earn and keep your trust.
Blessings to you and yours in the coming year.
-Joel
