Over One Thousand Customer Accounts

Caledonia, IL

About 75 miles from the booming metropolis of Chicago, Angelic Organics grows a dizzying array of vegetables and herbs on about 25 acres of the entire 90-acre farm. Their fresh vegetables and herbs are sold directly to over 1,000 customers who buy Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares in their farming operations each year, making them among the largest — if not the largest — of such operations in the United States, grossing more than $575,000 annually.

But it wasn’t always this way. During the farm crisis era of the 1980s, founder and owner of Angelic Organics, John Peterson, almost lost the diversified — but chemical fertilizer and pesticides-based — dairy, beef and corn and soybean farm he grew up on.

Then in 1990, John roped in 22 acres of the original Peterson homestead, adopting organic growing strategies for specialty vegetables and focused on offering them through subscriber shares through the CSA system as well as serving the needs of various commercial accounts. By 1993, John adopted Biodynamic farming practices, a system of organic agriculture first described by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 that promotes practices which include special “preparations,” compost applications, and other techniques to naturally enhance soil fertility and biological activity.

Attempting to avoid a repeat of the 1980s agricultural meltdown, John took a practical business perspective toward farming and used numerous diversification strategies which have helped him better manage risk. By adopting organic and Biodymanic practices from the start, Angelic Organics severed its ties to chemical companies that once provided costly and ecologically-destructive fertilizers and pesticides.

By using the CSA approach to farm sales, Angelic Organics’ customers shared in the risks associated with farming and invested in the future of the farm by paying $520 up front foreach share in a 20-week season that provides a 3/4-bushel box per week of vegetables and herbs, an engaging newsletter, and numerous opportunities to visit during farm Field Days.This up front investment, however, was welcomed by numerous shareholders who savor Angelic Organics’ fresh, chemical-free, and tastier produce. Some of the 1,200 shareholders even buy multi-year shares. More than 90 percent of the CSA members reside in the Chicago area and are served by one of twenty-seven delivery sites, with the remaining 10 percent of subscribers, residing locally or in nearby Rockford, Illinois, who pick up their shares directly on the farm.

The CSA shareholders enjoy receiving diversified crops — including root, onion, leaf, fruiting (sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers) and cole crops as well as herbs — harvested at their peak of ripeness and flavor. “We’re not relying on one or two crops,” says Bob Bower, General Manager for Angelic Organics. “Instead, we grow twenty-five to forty different vegetables and of those, numerous cultivars. Our tomatoes, for example, consist of three hybrids and nine heirloom varieties based on our customers’ preferences and seasonal timing.”

Bob sees the CSA approach as a more profitable way to run a farm business. “By removing the middlemen, we get a larger take on the retail dollar, no matter whether it’s tomatoes or turnips. The CSA member, on the other hand, gets fresher and healthier food.” Before managing the farm operations, Bob served as an auditor in corporate America, so helping run a business came naturally. The business-minded approach to farming permeates the culture of Angelic Organics, a sole proprietorship with a clear organization chart and mission statement.

Angelic Organics has focused on the CSA system, steadily shifting its marketing focus away from a business relationship with commercial accounts toward a service relationship with individual families. “We’ve been burned by the marketplace,” comments Bob. “In 1993, we had an informal contract with a Chicago area natural grocer that agreed to purchase our squash. When it came time for us to sell, however, we couldn’t even get our calls returned by the grocer. We had so much surplus, we couldn’t give it away.”

“The CSA approach has helped avoid this type of situation,” adds Bob. “Our CSA shareholders make a commitment to the farm before the harvest. We no longer need to worry about turnover in food buyers for some large commercial account anymore, or worry if they would understand who we are as agricultural producers.”

In their efforts to manage risk and grow to an economically viable scale with over a thousand shareholders, Angelic Organics found the right balance for their operations, employees (four to six year-round and twenty-five seasonal), and ecosystem. “As we’ve grown, things have become easier,” admits Bob. “Our solid CSA customer base has allowed us to make investments in equipment when we needed to. We’ve diversified our equipment lines and have equipment, including eleven tractors and numerous specialized implements, that are able to harvest an acre of onions in an afternoon, for example. Our scale has made our operations more workable and allowed us to purchase the right size tools for the job.”

Perhaps most unique, however, is Angelic Organics’ ability to attract farmland investors from their CSA membership. “Of our approximately fifty tillable acres available for vegetable production, half of which is fallow in cover crops at any given time, thirty-eight acres are actually owned by our CSA members,” shares Bob. “Of our entire ninety acres, Angelic Organics only owns twenty-two. The thirty-eight acres owned by CSA shareholders has allowed Angelic Organics to secure a long term land base by accessing the capital of the people who get our vegetables. We have the complete authority over the land without needing its ownership.” By 1998, their CSA shareholders had combined $180,000 to acquire the 38 acres and signed a 15-year lease with Angelic Organics that insured that the land would be managed organically.

“Farming is a lot more satisfying to us when we have 1,200 individual accounts,” concludes Bob. “It’s allowed us to focus our labor, marketing and harvesting efforts into pleasing a diversified customer base who feel a part of our farm.”