Analysis of Locavore Delivery Business Strategy
(This is an analysis of the business structure, marketing strategy, and operations of Locavore Delivery. For more background, check out their website and my interview with the Founder Craig Taber.)
The power of tapping into local food markets has become a mainstay of food innovators and food giants like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. On the other end of the spectrum, working directly with a farm through a local CSA is a great way to get fresh, local produce. But what about us carnivores who want to go local?
Locavore Delivery is bridging the gap between the local food scene and the meat lovers of the Front Range, through a dynamic and customizable home delivery system. According to their founder Craig Taber, the company has seen double digit growth in revenue over the past few years. The truly surprising thing about this figure? Locavore Delivery does almost no inbound marketing. In fact, Taber attributes the company's success to word of mouth.
This marketing piece fits well into the overall strategy of LD, that being a lean organization focused on consumer satisfaction and high product integrity. The key to the organization's functional strategy in keeping both customers and producers happy is based in their core values. Commitment to valuing and maintaining personal connection with both producers and customers and having high quality product that is rooted in animal welfare and environmentally responsible practices form the basis of the business.
Locavore Delivery is at its operational core a logistics business. By ensuring on-time delivery of product, positive and timely interactions with producers and processors, and careful management and maintenance of cold chain and food safety protocols, a baseline of reliability buttresses the company's primary selling point: great local meat. By offering a one-stop shop for local meat products at an affordable price, LD's differentiator is a combination of convenience, quality, and the extra special feeling of participating in a truly local transaction.
One of the interesting strategic decisions which Craig spoke to me about was the exclusion of any particular certification or labeling schemes in conjunction with his products. By eschewing the trendy, marketing-friendly labels such as USDA Organic or 100% Grass Fed
Locavore Delivery is making a statement. It is not as simple as valuing "Local" above all other considerations. Craig pointed to a specific example wherein a producer was ineligible for a certification due to what came down to a technicality. But this was incidental. Instead of relying on certifications whose integrity is potentially subject to political vagaries, LD has a personal relationship with each producer. The service's customers have the opportunity to physically visit the site where the animals were raised, which for a select but growing class of sustainability-minded consumers, is the only way to go.