On Thursday, Sept. 4, New York City’s online farmers’ market, Farm to People, began delivering seasonal and sustainably-sourced produce and products from more than 150 local farms and makers to residential customers in Westchester County.
In a busy week for him, we caught up with the congenial (and remarkably relaxed-sounding) Michael Ray Robinov, Farm to People’s co-founder and CEO, to learn a little bit more about the workings of the produce delivery service and his informed take on the potential of the Westchester County – and soon, Southern Connecticut – business markets.
Michael, what motivated your decision to expand Farm to People’s delivery area, and what specific goals do you hope to achieve with this expansion?
“Westchester and Fairfield County are natural next steps for us. They’re communities with a strong appreciation for healthy, local food. Our goal is to connect more households to the farms and makers in our network while building density in a region that’s both suburban and deeply tied to New York City.”
Would you discuss, to the extent you are comfortable with it, the financial implications of the expansion? What are the anticipated costs involved in the process?
“Because we already operate a dense delivery network in New York City and New Jersey, the incremental cost of expanding into Westchester and Southern Connecticut is relatively modest – primarily marketing and driver routing. We aren’t building any new facilities to do this. We’re leveraging existing infrastructure. The real investment is in customer acquisition, with the expectation that new customers will quickly reach the same high order frequency and average basket size we see in our core market.”
Regarding the demographic, how do you imagine the Westchester and Fairfield customers might differ in their requirements from the New York City customers, and what provisions, forgive the pun, might you have made for this?
“We expect Westchester and Fairfield customers to order in larger basket sizes than our New York City core. They tend to more families with larger fridges and freezers and kitchens built for cooking. That means we’re leaning into family-friendly prepared foods and more subscribable everyday staples to fit into their weekly routines.”
How are you marketing your expanded services to attract new customers in the additional areas?
“First off, we’ve just announced a partnership with Mike’s Organic, https://www.wagmag.com/feeding-stamford-and-the-world a beloved Connecticut brand that had to close its doors in early 2024. With Mike, we’re combining grassroots and digital approaches – partnerships with local publications, parenting networks and food media; targeted social and search campaigns; and a robust referral program. We’re also working with local farms and makers who already have strong reputations in the region to tell the story in an authentic way.”
Are there any challenges or risks you foresee with this expansion, and how do you plan to mitigate them?
“The main challenge is ensuring we build delivery density fast enough to keep routes efficient. That’s why we’re launching with a three-day delivery schedule and focusing on ZIP codes where we can cluster orders before adding the northern half of Westchester and Fairfield counties. Our hope is to be servicing the counties in full by the end of the year. Another challenge is awareness: Many people in these communities don’t know Farm to People yet. That’s why we’re investing heavily in local marketing, partnerships and word-of-mouth to accelerate traction.”
What metrics or benchmarks will you use to evaluate the success of the expansion, and what is your expected timeline for seeing a return on your investment?
“We’re looking closely at new customer acquisition, first-to-second order conversion and repeat order rate. Average order value is another key benchmark, since we anticipate it will be higher here than in New York City. We expect to be profitable on a unit economic basis from the outset.”
