Read time: 5 minutes

Good morning! It's Tuesday, January 23rd. Today, we’re looking at FarmHouse Fresh, a beauty company that generates $10M in annual profits while leveraging livestock rescue philanthropy.

THE FEATURE

FarmHouse Fresh— Saving Livestock and Selling Beauty

Farming is often associated with callused hands, dirty boots, and hard work— not beauty products. 

However, FarmHouse Fresh has found a way to combine the two, attracting countless celebrity endorsements, social media buzz, and $50M in retail sales!

So, What’s the Business?

FarmHouse Fresh isn't a new brand. It was founded 20 years ago by the sister-in-law duo Shannon McLinden and Delia McLinden.

The founding mission was to take the farm-to-table concept and apply it to beauty products, which actually works extremely well. For instance, grains like oats are often used as exfoliants, dairy derivatives are used for hydration, and floral extracts are used for scent. 

To sweeten the farm-to-beauty selling point, FarmHouse Fresh only sources from its network of American farmers, who are often sustainability certified. 

As a result, they are selling environmentally friendly, organic, and American-made cosmetics, meaning they can substantially mark up their products and get away with it. The FarmHouse shea butter bar soap sells for $14.5, 409% more expensive than the average $3.54 cost of bar soap in the US. 

Niche products that focus on environmental sustainability and organic ingredients can be massive hits with consumer subgroups, but one, in particular, is notorious for flocking to them: celebrities. 

Celebrities and influencers often post about their daily products to signal how much they care about things like the environment. Combining a high-quality product with altruistic selling points has led to FarmHouse endorsements from the likes of Kim Kardashian and even Oprah! 

With its high-margin products and celebrity endorsements, FarmHouse Fresh is impressively profitable, with ~$10M in annual profits. While FarmHouse Fresh doesn't report revenue figures, they donate 10% of their yearly profits to rescuing livestock animals, which amounted to nearly $1M last year. 

The Innovation: Transmuting Charity into Marketing

The $1M FarmHouse Fresh donated last year goes right back into the company's headquarters, a farm with over 45 horses, donkeys, goats, and sheep rescued from slaughter. 

Rescuing livestock is an amazing cause, but housing FarmHouse Fresh's philanthropy operation at its company headquarters also has amazing advantages: an endless stream of marketing and social media content with viral potential. 

FarmHouse Fresh hosts weekly Facebook live streams at their ranch, where thousands of viewers join to see tours and updates on their favorite animals. Pictures and videos of cute animals do tremendously well in terms of engagement on social media platforms, and FarmHouse Fresh masterfully weaves them in alongside images of their beauty products. 

Outside of social media, FarmHouse Fresh connects its philanthropy to its DTC business via its Track Your Batch program. Customers receive a code with each order that they can use on the store's website to see pictures and videos of animals that benefitted from their purchase. 

In practice, the accounting department sends date-stamped codes to Farm Fresh's headquarters, where its web team then compiles video and photo content of rescued animals that matches the purchase date. 

Key Observation

As our world becomes increasingly digital, it's increasingly difficult for consumers to feel like their purchase decisions are making a tangible impact on the world.

FarmHouse Fresh has garnered a loyal customer base willing to pay top dollar for its products by tying its philanthropic efforts into every part of the purchase funnel— ensuring a warm fuzzy feeling with each purchase.

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