Ferncreek Farms

Orlando, Florida | EST. 2023

Confronted with high demand and Florida’s harsh growing conditions, Jenny Austin implemented a Freight Farm to deliver premium culinary herbs to the top restaurants in her area, which include Michelin Star, Michelin Bib Gourmand, and James Beard Award winners.

About Ferncreek Farms:

  • Jenny Austin

  • Restaurants, bars

  • Culinary herbs: Genovese Basil, Sweet Thai Basil, and other specialty basils

  • Greenery™

  • One

Overview

Located in the sunny, humid climate of Florida, Jenny Austin, the lead Freight Farm operator for Ferncreek Farms, decided to start growing her culinary herbs indoors to combat crop loss. 

Since implementing a Freight Farm in 2023, Jenny has been able to consistently provide exceptional products to restaurants and bars year-round. This reliability has not only secured repeat business from chefs but also justified premium pricing for her offerings.

Initial Challenges

With Florida’s harsh summers, specializing in basil is very challenging. Droughts, hurricanes, tropical storms, poor soil conditions, and pests make Florida a tough environment for the top-quality culinary herbs Jenny was trying to grow. Too often, she would lose her entire crop and be forced to tell chefs she couldn’t supply the herbs. 

This was not how Jenny wanted to represent Ferncreek Farms. Her goal was to ensure a year-round supply of high-quality products and position herself as a dependable supplier for chefs in her area.

The Planning Process

To overcome the challenging conditions, Jenny and her team explored indoor growing options and stumbled upon Freight Farms. Excited about the potential of container farming, Jenny's family advised her to first experiment with hydroponics on a smaller scale to gauge demand. After achieving significant success and experiencing higher demand than she could supply, she was ready to take the leap.

Jenny attended Freight Farm’s Master Class event in September 2023, which helped her decide that a container farm was the right solution. After securing financing through a private loan, she received her farm in November 2023.

Implementation

Now, with a Freight Farm on-site at Ferncreek Farms, Jenny can consistently deliver high-quality culinary herbs to restaurants and bars every week.

For market research, Jenny began by identifying who was using basil in the Orlando area. Confident in the superior quality of her Freight-Farmed produce, she targeted upscale establishments that would be willing to pay premium prices. She researched the top restaurants and bars, focusing on those with Michelin Stars, Michelin Bib Gourmand, and James Beard Awards. After selecting potential fits, she’d visit each restaurant, speak to the chef, and hand them her product. The chefs would open the bag, see the basil, and without even tasting it, they’d be sold.

Impressed with the fresh, high-quality basil Jenny had presented them, the chefs would often follow up with:

  1. Where are you located?

  2. What else do you have? 

In her sales pitch to restaurants, Jenny always emphasizes that her herbs are a very clean product, with no pesticides ever used. She also finds it helpful to invite chefs to her farm, allowing them to see firsthand where the food is grown, what a container farm is, and what the growing process looks like. These tours help chefs understand the cost breakdown of her products and help to justify the premium prices.

“The Freight Farm solved every problem I was struggling with.”
— Jenny Austin, Lead Farm Operator at Ferncreek Farms

From her small-scale hydroponic business, Jenny learned that having the product ready when pitching to chefs was crucial. She didn't want to get them interested only to tell them they’d have to wait six weeks for the produce to grow. So, she started growing herbs in her Freight Farm beforehand, ensuring chefs could place an order immediately after sampling.

Approximately 80% of her Freight Farm is growing basil at all times. A Michelin Star chef, one of her biggest accounts, asked about her other products and said she'd need to offer more than just basil to bring her on as a vendor. To meet this demand and maintain her reputation for reliability, Jenny set up racks to grow microgreens and dedicated six panels in the farm to grow custom requests for the restaurant, securing the deal with the chef.

Jenny surpassed the breakeven point within two months of receiving her Freight Farm and tripled her income within five months. Her previously established market for hydroponic basil and the premium prices chefs were willing to pay for her high-quality product contributed to her quick success.

Future Plans

Currently at capacity, Jenny looks forward to expanding her Freight Farm operation to meet the growing demand. She plans to hire a farm assistant to help with daily tasks and maintenance, freeing up her time to connect with new chefs and explore potential partnerships. Looking to the future, she dreams of having multiple Freight Farms, with each one dedicated to growing a specific herb.

Advice for Future Farmers

For those considering Freight Farming in the future, Jenny shares two major pieces of advice:

Confidence is key

Be willing to research your market and actively engage with your customers. Confidence in your product will shine through to the chefs you’re selling to.

Know your "why"

Have a bigger mission as to why you want to start Freight Farming. For Jenny, it was about creating opportunities for her family and finding a job that allowed her to spend more time with her kids. Whenever the journey gets tough, remembering that she’s doing this for her family keeps her motivated.