Emerging Marketing and 

Business Strategies

Tim Woods

Matt Ernst

University of Kentucky

This presentation is part of a USDA-Ag Marketing Service study: 

“National Survey of CSAs: Emerging Marketing and Business Strategies”

Funded through Cooperative Agreement 12-25-A- 5660
Elmwood Stock Farm

Central Kentucky

• Evolution of traditional single farm CSA

• Complement to farm market and local branding

• Value added products – farm estate branding

• Sustainable food customer base

• Difficult to compete with local suppliers to 

restaurants and schools

• Competition from local food aggregators also 

emerging – also from local university 
• Risks of shared CSA 

markets

– Shareholder relations

– Product quality

– Mission creep

– Farm branding limits

• Demand for season 

extension

– 18 to 22 weeks, fall 

shares

– High tunnels, meats

Elmwood Stock Farm

Central Kentucky
Farmer Dave’s/Many Hands Organic Farm

• Partnering with urban community development 

agencies to reach lower income and inner-city 

shareholders

– Harvard Medical School

– Boston Housing Authority

– Madison Park Development Corporation

– East Boston Neighborhood Health Center

– NOFA

• Seafood CSA: Community Supported Fishery – extending the distribution model to a host of 

products
• Shareholder recruitment

• SNAP and other subsidy facilitation

• Peer shareholder leadership

• Cooking classes, expanded 

community health programs

• Food consumption behavioral 

studies

• Shared missional fit with 

community food systems

Farmer Dave’s/Many Hands Organic Farm

Elizabeth Gonzalez Suarez

Trinity Property Management
Connecting to Low Income Urban 

Shareholders

$6-8 weekly subsidy per share through food income assistance programs 
Taking the CSA Beyond the Traditional 

Shareholder Base

Ginger Turner

CSA Manager for Farmer Daves

(Dave Demaresq)
Fair Prices for Farmers

• Many Hands Organic Farm

– Medium Vegetable Share: $16.25/week, 

$325/season

• Farmer Dave 

– Fruit Share, $19.25/week, $250/season (13 

weeks)

– Small Vegetable: $21.50/week, $430/season

– Regular Vegetable: $29.25/week, $585/season

Source: Drew Love, Northeast Organic Farmers Assoc.
CSA SNAPSHOT: PENNS CORNER FARM ALLIANCE (Pittsburgh, PA)

Timeline:

1999 Formed marketing co-op to restaurants, $16,000 in sales

2003 Started CSA; 10 grower members

2007 Hires Neil Stauffer as GM

2008-11 +20% sales growth annually

2012 Add flower, winter CSA program; start processing tomatoes

Four full-time staff

Acquired 3800 sq. ft. Pittsburgh warehouse, office, cooler space

Size: 36 farms, including a 12-farm Amish/Mennonite cooperative (Clarion River Organics)

CSA Members: ~700

2012: 509 spring shares, 630 harvest shares, 237 biweekly winter shares; 15 flower 

shares; ~30 egg shares

Other Outlets: Direct-to-restaurant, online ordering “Farm Stand”

Sales: $1.4 million in 2012; about 20% annual sales growth 2008-11

Future Plans: Continuing CSA; expand Farm Stand online ordering; dabbling in providing 

locally sourced foods to universities, private schools; developing Gift Basket line; 

encouraging high-end cheesemaking in the region.
Downtown warehouse 

location
• Rapid expansion of ecommerce

• Small Farm Central

• CSA, farm stand, 

restaurant/wholesale
FairShare

Madison, Wisconsin

• Association of organic CSAs

• Health Insurance Rebate program

– Physician’s Plus 

• Cookbook sales funding substantial cooperative 

programming

• Coalition support from Extension, medical community, 

strong local foods culture

• Coalition able to provide 

– specialized CSA training for members

– Shareholder recruitment

– Community and fundraising benefits
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Estimated total rebates 

issued 96 972 1282 3550 6100 6800 7300 7200

Approximate # of shares 

available via FS farms 2000 2800 3500 4500 6950 8650 8733 9700

FairShare Health Rebate Program Growth
Denver Area CSAs

• CSA community post-Grant Farms

• Urban CSAs – links with Denver Housing 

Authority

• CSA as a connection to city planning

• Strong local foods and sustainable ag

community in region
Granata Farms CSA and Urban Farmers Collective

Downtown Denver, CO
Star Acre Farms
Contrast Multi-Farm CSAs

• Fair Shares CCSA (Combined Community Supported 

Agriculture)

– St. Louis-based 450 share multi-farm CSA network

– Around 40 farms, meat, produce, coffee, bread, pasta, 

cheese

– Private venture

• Grasshoppers Kentucky-based food hub/CSA/specialty 

foods distributor

– 40-50 KY and IN farms

– Wide diversity of fresh and processed products

– CSA a shrinking share of the business

– Significant public investment from state
CSA Shareholders

Periphery

Mid-Level

Core

Grocer

Specialty wholesaler

Peapod

Traditional single farm CSA

Food hubs

Local food aggregators

Multi-farm CSAs

Value Proposition

More price

sensitive

Less price

sensitive

Strategic reach
Wider Definitions of Local by Retailers

Boston Area Whole Foods
What we are learning

• CSA agency and community partnerships that 

bridge entry barriers – helping with logistics, 

education, retention.

• Scale economies still important in distribution 

and promotion. Tension between “authentic” 

farmer and community relationship objectives 

and subscription delivery model (Peapod and 

others)/ other scale efforts
What we are learning

• E-commerce a core part of CSA business with 

growing applications for management

• Rapid expansion in new products marketed 

through the CSA model