By Katie Spring, Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center
In the hills of Northern Vermont, a 60-cow herd of heritage linebacks turn grass into milk.
The farmers of Sweet Rowen Farmstead pasteurize and bottle that milk for sale and process it into yogurt and 10 types of cheese. They sell their products in their on-farm store, at farmers markets, local stores and restaurants, through other farms’ community supported agriculture programs, and through wholesale distributors. This diversified approach to sales has led to Sweet Rowen becoming a well-known farmstead producer throughout Vermont.
So well known, in fact, that they’ve been approached by regional wholesale distributors interested in carrying the products into new markets. Sweet Rowen owner/operator Paul Lisai realized that in order to take advantage of larger opportunities, they needed to invest in a dedicated marketing team and focus on building out the logistical marketing elements required by larger distributors.
That’s where the NE-DBIC Dairy Marketing & Branding Services Grant comes in.
In 2023, Sweet Rowen Farmstead applied for and received $43,750 through the Dairy Marketing & Branding Services grant. This grant offers dairy processors funding to work with professional marketing and branding services. The goal of the grant is to increase consumer awareness of regionally produced dairy products, develop market channels and distribution opportunities to increase product placement, and lead to an increase of business revenues.
Sweet Rowen worked with Asa Davis Photography for updated farm and product photography. They also hired Andrew Dernavich Design to update their branding and marketing plan and materials. Together, the team accomplished a great deal.
“All of our product packaging now includes an updated logo, updated branding, and necessary nutritional facts needed for accessing new wholesale markets,” the farm reported. They have an updated website and a pro-active social media plan that reaches both their direct customers and wholesale accounts. Their new branded, product-specific boxes include UPCs that integrate with distributor’s inventorying software, and their promotional materials include a professional sell-sheet that features photos and descriptions of each product.
Since the grant project, Sweet Rowen has seen 17% growth in sales. “It’s very exciting to have these new materials that make us more marketable to new accounts. We’ve already succeeded in securing new accounts by presenting them with our new materials.” While the work of digging into marketing and branding during the farming season can be challenging, Sweet Rowen’s commitment has paid off. Along with developing marketing materials, they’ve also deepened their own marketing skills from working with the consultants. To see the farm’s updates, visit their website at sweetrowen.com.
The next round of the Dairy Marketing & Branding Services Grant is expected to be released in March. Learn how to apply at nedairyinnovation.com/grants/dairy-marketing-branding-services
