Farm406

farm406 34 Around 2016, Shauna began creating whole grain, easy- to-make dry meal mixes and kits from the wheat and lentils her family grows on their farm. At first, they rented kitchen space in a local restaurant to put the mixes together. In the beginning, she'd roll in a big tote on wheels carrying everything she needed, package the mixes, and then roll it back out. "at didn't last very long," she laughs. I asked Shauna to walk me through the growth of their business and it followed a predictable path. Success in expanding took a lot of hard work, creativity, trial and error, persistence, and a lot of help from friends, community members, and Montana's Food and Ag Development Center. Aer an initial growth in sales gave them confidence that they could expand, they rented and renovated an old gas station in town. ey outgrew that building and eventually bought an old restaurant site and did a complete makeover. is building is where the magic happens. ey send their grains to be cleaned. Once they get them back, they mix and package the kits by hand. en comes the labeling and shipping, sending off the mixes, (including their most popular product, Lentil Crunchers), to grocery and convenience stores all around Montana. ey also ship direct to consumers all around the country. e best marketing strategies for them have been to meet with people face-to-face at trade shows and to use social media to connect with their customers.. e Lentil Crunchers, which Shauna describes as kind of like a lentil corn nut, have been such a hit, that it is hard for them to keep the product in stock. Terry Farver walks with his dog along a center pivot in one of their fields. Lentil Crunchers are the Farver's most popular product. Shauna describes the Cruncher as kind of like a lentil corn nut. They have been such a hit, that it is hard for them to keep the product in stock. Shauna Farver works in her food processing facility.

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