Luke Saunders wants everyone to have access to healthy food
Luke Saunders founded Farmer’s Fridge after realizing how hard it is to get fresh food on the go. His company sells healthy salads and snacks from kiosks that look like vending machines. His business is taking off and getting noticed. Farmer’s Fridge is available to more than a million people in its native Chicago and access is expanding nationwide.
In February 2020, Farmer’s Fridge had its most profitable month to date and sales report projections were ticking skyward. But by the end of March, most of their customers weren’t leaving their homes, let alone using healthy vending machines.
Saunders said revenue dropped 85 percent at the start of the pandemic. Fridge deliveries and city expansions were halted. With remote work and shelter-in-place orders, Saunders and his team had to figure out how to bring healthy food into their customers’ homes.
Luckily, having a nimble, dedicated team in place prepared them for a pivot.
Within a few weeks, Farmer’s Fridge launched a home delivery and wholesale program — ventures not on the business plan before COVID-19. Saunders credits the entrepreneurial spirit of his team and their dedication to the company mission as the reason for their accomplishments. Ultimately, these new channels helped make up for lost fridge revenue and allowed customers to choose healthy options without cooking or spending major dollars on takeout.
Not all Farmer’s Fridge customers could work from home, though. When COVID-19 hit the U.S., the company immediately deployed 80 fridges to healthcare facilities, gave discounts to frontline medical workers, and donated more than $500,000 to community partners.
Saunders explained how the company’s start-up mentality and challenges will drive both employees and the company to grow.
“The longer I serve as founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge, the more my team, investors, and external partners expect me to be right: to make the right decision, invest in the right things, and pull the right growth levers. And while experience does bring certainly increased intuition, I’m a big advocate for failure. It is a lot more pressure than I expected because I want to meet everyone’s expectations.”
“But when I look at the inputs to make a strategic decision, the metaphorical “x” I am solving for is not right all the time. Failure is a big part of life and work, even when—and arguably more so when—you are a founder and CEO. My mantra is that if there isn’t a chance you fail, then you are not pushing yourself hard enough; or even worse, you are not admitting when something is not working. Our entrepreneurial culture celebrates success stories, but I don’t think we talk about failure enough. Failure can be expensive, it can be embarrassing, and it can be funny (some of my best stories are from failed ideas), but it’s always critical to growth,” he said.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/gj8mTLGOFLg
- https://www.builtinchicago.org/2020/09/28/ceo-farmers-fridge-access-healthy-food
- https://www.forbes.com/profile/luke-saunders/?sh=46467f661189
- https://www.fastcompany.com/90710011/my-3-worst-ideas-as-a-founder-and-ceo-and-why-they-were-critical-to-my-companys-growth
- https://readloud.net
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